Neetha Joy

Doctoral Researcher 

Research Topic

The Advantage in Disadvantage - A case study of disabled teachers.

Neetha Joy Profile PictureResearch summary

Although inclusive education policies have made mainstream education accessible to many children with disabilities, literature suggests that policies have not filtered to teachers, especially disabled teachers who are often invisible in academia. Neetha's study aims to explore the experiences of disabled teachers in order to identify common barriers, discrimination and struggles they encountered. Her research study is based on lived experiences of disabled teachers trying to understand their development and interaction with environments around them and the impact these environments have had on the lives of the disabled teachers. The study aims to explore the narratives of disabled teachers in their own voice highlighting the role their life experiences have had in their choice of profession and gain an understanding of the barriers they encounter. This particular study will plug a whole in the gap in disability studies with very few studies conducted on disabled teachers. The study plans to use two theoretical frameworks namely WHO’s ICF and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological system to analyse the data.

Research interests

  • Teacher Education
  • Race and Education
  • Inclusive Education 
  • Disability

Research Supervisors

Mr Neil Hall and Dr. Graeme Douglas

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Science  (Mumbai University)
  • Master of Science  (Mumbai University)
  • Bachelor of Education (Mumbai University)
  • Master of Education (Mumbai University)
  • Master of Arts in Management of Special education in Developing Countries (University of Birmingham)

Biography

Neetha is a second year PhD research student in the School of Education at the University of Birmingham. She holds a Masters degree from the University of Birmingham in Management of Special Education in Developing Countries. She is also an alumnus of the University of Mumbai. She began her career as a Mathematics and Science Teacher progressing to become a teacher educator. Her other interests include cooking, baking reading and travel; and she is a Bollywood buff.

Membership of Professional Organisations

  • Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE)

 Publications and Conferences

  • Spoken presentation “ The Advantage in Disadvantage- a case study of disabled teachers’ at the UoB School of Education Conference July 2020.

Contact

Email: npj720@student.bham.ac.uk

Twitter: @neetha_joy