Refusing to be silent: Acts of resistance by girls in classrooms for students with an emotional disturbance

This is a study of three female adolescents in classes for students with an emotional disturbance (ED). ED is a school related disability in which students have difficulty benefiting from their education due to behavioral issues. The methods utilized in this study are postmodern in nature, with the researcher using the recording and analyzing of narratives as the primary modality for gaining an understanding of these students' perspectives. While the research participants are all students with a disability, this study is as much about a feminist focus as it is about special education. The participants in this study are viewed as a segment of the female population who are not often considered in critical and/or feminist literature.; Historically, girls represent a minority of students in ED programs, nationally making up only 25 percent of the ED school age population. This study aimed at trying to discern how girls with ED, given their gender minority status and the power structures inherent to the ED class environment, negotiate the ED culture. Furthermore, this study focused on deciphering the young women's sense of identity as a result of participating in the ED culture. Through dialogue, observations, and the sharing of stories, a cinematic view is presented of the lives of these students. As an integral component to this critical ethnography, an explanation of issues around power and oppression adds insight into the acts of resistance and accommodation demonstrated by these students.; In addition to addressing oppressive practices within the ED school culture, the researcher introduces a strategy for helping students find their voice. This strategy involves a co-authorship between the researcher and the research participants, and is referred to as a Personal Life Presentation. In the creation of Personal Life Presentations, the researcher captures stories verbally shared by the student participants or observed in the classrooms, and through multiple drafting exercises and discussions, works with the participants to generate a form of auto-biography, facilitated by the researcher. Personal Life Presentations provide participants, whose voices are often absent from the literature due to various barriers to finding voice, an outlet for sharing stories that, without this form of co-authorship, would not be told.