Doctoral Researcher
Research Topic
Being ‘mum’ – the subjectivity of parent carers and its impact on inclusion
Research Summary
This research study intends to explore how discourses, through policy and practice, as well as wider societal pressures, determine how parent carers of children with SEND understand their identities and experiences, and how this subsequently impacts on their interactions with the education system. It will explore how discourses construct the identity of ‘mum’, a frequently used short-hand that describes the role of parents of children with SEND, and how/why some parent carers resist this construction and attempt instead to subvert or disrupt the education system in order to seek a suitable education for their child.
Furthermore, it will seek to explore how individual experiences and understandings impact parents’ views about what effective inclusion in education looks like, whether inclusion is something they desire or do not hold as important, and how this impacts the choices they make in relation to their child’s education. Key questions that the research will address include:
- How is the role of parents of children with SEND articulated within official documents and policy?
- How do parents of children with SEND understand their role, experiences and identities?
- What discourses inform the way parents construct their experiences and identities?
- What role do parents play in co-producing discourses that have power effects on themselves and other parents?
- How do parents resist discourses at a collective or individual level, seeking alternative ways of being?
- What is the impact of discourses related to parent carers in relation to inclusion in education?
Research Interests
- Special Educational Needs
- Disability
- Inclusion
- Parent engagement/participation
- Risk
Research Supervisors
Professor Julie Allan and Dr Clara Joergensen
Biography
Sharon Smith is a PhD research student at the University of Birmingham. Her PhD approaches the subjectivity of parents of disabled children/children labelled with Special Educational Needs in order to explore how this impacts on inclusion. She is also interested in issues relating to risk, parent participation and philosophy of education. Sharon was awarded the inaugural BERA Doctoral Fellowship in 2019.
Education
- BA (Hons) Education Studies, University of Winchester
- MA Philosophy of Education, Institute of Education, UCL
Conference Papers
An inclusive and ethical way to approach research with parents of disabled children’ Online International Doctoral Research Conference in Education, 8 July 2020, Liverpool John Moores University.
Seminar ‘The role of risk in relation to Special Educational Needs and Disability’
Part of the Disability Futurities series organised by CCDS, Liverpool Hope University, 5 February 2020, Liverpool Hope University.
‘Parent participation and Special Educational Needs’
Education Reform Legislation in a Changing Society: Annual Colloquium, Society for Educational Studies, 27 September 2019, Oriel College, University of Oxford.
‘Risk and the calculable future of disabled students’
Disability Studies: Past, Present and Future (CDS Postgraduate Conference 2019), 11 July 2019, University of Leeds.
‘The production of the ‘effective’ special needs parent’
New Directions in Critical Disability Studies Postgraduate Symposium, 9 July 2019, University of Sheffield.
‘Special Educational Needs, Risk and Time’ Philosophy of Education Society Great Britain (PESGB) Annual Conference 2019, Philosophy of Education Society Great Britain, 30 March 2019, University of Oxford.
Publications
Hellawell, B., Smith, S. & Wharton, J. (2022) ‘What was required above all else was collaboration’: keeping the momentum for SEND partnership working in the wake of Covid-19 British Journal of Special Education. Available: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8578.12413
Smith, S. & Smith, K. (2021) ‘Down syndrome as Pure Simulacrum’ Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, 15, (3), 287–305.
Smith, S. (2020) ‘Book review: Forms of education: Rethinking educational experience against and outside the humanist legacy’. British Journal of Educational Studies. Available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2020.1785788
Smith, S. (2020) ‘An Ethical Responsibility’. In: Goodley, D., Runswick-Cole, K. & Liddiard, K. (eds.) Interventions in Disabled Childhood Studies. Sheffield: iHuman Press.
Spencer, S. & Smith, S. (2020) ‘Women Professors and Deans: Access, Opportunity, and Networks’ In: Fitzgerald, T. (ed.) Handbook of Historical Studies in Education, p795-811.
Presentations
‘Conversations with parents of disabled children: developing a research approach that provides an educational experience within which parents can explore meanings of inclusion and their own subjectivity’
BERA conference, University of Liverpool
September 2022
‘New insights and implications for SEND partnership working after Covid: keeping the momentum’
Dr B Hellawell, Sharon Smith & Julie Wharton
BERA conference, University of Liverpool
September 2022
‘Rectanglements: [New] Material Discursive Spaces for (Im)possibilities’
Donata Puntil, King’s College, London; Karen Kaufman, Centre for Creative-Relational Inquiry, University of
Edinburgh; Luise Fischer, Institute of Political Science, Leipzig University; Sharon Louise Smith, School of Education, University of Birmingham; Prue Adams, Western Sydney University; Andrew Mark Gillott, Centre for Creative-Relational Inquiry, University of Edinburgh; Lindsey R Garner-Knapp, University of Edinburgh, and Tanya O’Reilly, Stockholm University.
International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry
20 May 2022, Online https://icqi.org/
‘Being mum’
SEND Research Bites Seminar – for Department for Education (DfE) policymakers and analysts
13 April 2022, Online.
‘A conversation with parents of disabled children: approaching subjectivity and exploring meanings of inclusion’
New Research in Disability Studies PGR conference, Centre for Disability Research, Lancaster University
28 March 2022, Online.
‘Overview of parental partnership: assumptions, changes over time and consequences’
SEN Policy Research Forum
21 March 2022, Birkbeck University London
‘What is co-production and how can principles of co-production be applied when working with parents of children labelled with SEND?’
Constructive Co-Production: Person-centred principles and practices, University of Reading/The Charlie Waller Trust.
2 March 2022, Online.
‘Uniting Schools, LA’s and Parents and Students to tackle the EHCP Crisis’
Panel discussion with Dr P Hannant & Garry Freeman
Schools & Academies Show Birmingham, 18th November 2021, NEC Birmingham.
‘Conversation as a form of inclusive research’ BERA Podcast. 4 August 2021.
‘Effective parent participation – a critical discussion’
Inclusive and Supportive Education Conference (ISEC2020), UCL London, 3 August 2021, Online.
‘Being ‘Mum’: approaching the subjectivity of parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and its impact on inclusion’
European Philosophy of Education Colloquium, 21st-22nd May 2021, Online.
‘Exploring the ‘risk’ and ‘vulnerability’ of disabled children within education.’
BSA 70th Anniversary Virtual Conference: Remaking the Future, 13 April 2021, Online.
Social Media
Twitter @Sharon_L_Smith
Contact Details
Email: SLS945@student.bham.ac.uk