| Blind people have long been victimized, discriminated against and marginalized by the sighted ("normal") population. For the most part this behavior has gone unnoticed and as a result unquestioned. This was made possible because of the constructed attitude that blind people were inferior. This perspective has not been considered in traditional educational histories about the blind. These were primarily written by people who worked within the blindness system and were sympathetic to its interests. Their approach focused on the rationalization of the blindness system and the work of social and educational agencies on behalf of the blind.;A recent development in policy studies which provides a very useful framework for examining the history of the organized blind is "policy archaeology," a methodology for analyzing educational and social policy. In his essay "Policy Archaeology: A New Policy Studies Methodology," James Scheurich has argued and has shown to my satisfaction that this methodology goes beyond traditional and postpositivist policy analysts' frameworks which are restrictive since they accept or presume a commitment to the larger liberal worldview in which they exist. In contrast, this methodology argues for a different approach to policy studies, one that opens up new territory, one that establishes a new problematic, and, thus, one that serves to alter and expand the policy studies area. Policy archaeology is useful to my research because it expands the analysis of educational policy studies by asking questions that promote the investigation of groups and issues that have traditionally been ignored or taken for granted by policy researchers.;By using policy archaeology as a framework, the major purpose of this work is to describe the nature of the conflicts and issues raised by the organized blind in their pursuit of having their voice heard in educational policy decisions related to the blind. The first chapter of this dissertation discusses policy archaeology which is the theoretical framework for analyzing educational policy related to the blind. The following six chapters show how policy archaeology is useful for opening up space for the voice of the blind to be heard and for analyzing educational policy from their perspective. |
