To maintain culturally relevant pedagogy, why might a text about a child with a disability be less suitable?

• A. Not focused on the characters' ethnicities, so it may not be evident the text is about diversity
• B. Presents the main character facing challenges and could be disturbing to students hearing the text
• C. Never explains why the child has a disability, which could distract the students from the text's message
• D. Positions the main character as continually having difficulties and the other characters as rescuers

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is how to represent disability in a way that respects students’ identities and promotes inclusion. Culturally relevant pedagogy aims to depict students and communities as capable, diverse, and central to the learning experience, with characters who have voice, agency, and active roles in their world.

The best choice shows the main character with a disability as continually having difficulties while other characters take on the role of rescuers. This framing reinforces a deficit view of disability and positions others as the ones who fix things for the character, which can normalize dependency and disempowerment. It limits the character’s legitimacy as a full participant in the story and in real-life communities, and it misses opportunities to portray resilience, capability, and collaboration. In contrast, texts that present disability as one aspect of a person’s life—alongside strengths, challenges, and authentic interactions with peers—better support students in seeing diverse experiences as part of everyday life.

While other aspects of diversity matter, such as including different cultures or considering how challenging material is for students, the issue most closely tied to culturally relevant pedagogy here is the persistent deficit framing and the rescuers dynamic.