By Theo Sowa, Learning Generation Initiative (LGI) Champion
LGI and the Cambridge Network for Disability and Education Research (CaNDER) – with support from the What Works Hub for Global Education – have collaborated on a new research synthesis showing why it’s so important to support teachers with disabilities working in mainstream classrooms. At the recent launch of this report, the conversation around disability and inclusion in education moved beyond familiar narratives of access. It spotlighted teachers with disabilities as critical to achieving inclusive and equitable education systems.
The event, which I had the opportunity to moderate, was part of an ongoing dialogue within LGI’s broader work on inclusion and the education workforce. LGI believes inclusion is fundamental to delivering quality and equitable education for all – not a separate issue. The session featured powerful contributions from panelists across education ministries, teacher unions, international organizations, and teachers themselves.
The report authors, Nidhi Singh and Katie Godwin, noted that the commitment to inclusion has often focused on learners – children living with disabilities – while less attention has been paid to the experiences and rights of teachers with disabilities. Panelist Heiki Kuhn, Head of Unit for Education at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in Germany, emphasized, “It’s really good that we speak about this and that finally we hear these voices… It’s called voices of the margins, but it’s so important to bring them… in the center.”
Esther Mbite, a panelist and primary school teacher in Malawi and Director of the advocacy organization Voice of Women with Disabilities, brought this point home. Speaking from her own experience as a visually impaired teacher, she described the layered challenges teachers face within the classroom – from inaccessible infrastructure to inadequate learning materials and unsupportive workplace relationships. “When [a teacher with a disability has] adequate teaching and learning resources, that simply means that a teacher with disability can deliver as well as the same as the teacher without disability.”
Her comments were a powerful reminder that inclusion isn’t just about ticking a box – it’s about designing environments, resources, and relationships that enable everyone to participate and thrive. In the report, the authors emphasize that to do this there must be recognition of the intersection of disability with other forms of marginalization. When the conversation turned to Esther’s experience as a female teacher with disability, she spoke candidly about the compounded discrimination women with disabilities face in schools and communities. “As a woman, [you are] already vulnerable. Now being a woman with disability, the vulnerability doubles… [and so, as a result] we are neglected from doing our work.” She described being overlooked for professional development and leadership opportunities, not because of her ability but because of others’ assumptions. Yet, her continued leadership as head of clubs and societies at her school demonstrates the resilience and determination of women educators with disabilities who persist despite systemic barriers.
Throughout the session, a recurring theme emerged among all panelists: Negative attitudes and beliefs about people with disabilities hinder teacher development and progress. Esther called for cultivating positive attitudes among school leaders, colleagues, and students – beginning with management. “If management is having a good attitude”, she noted, it “flows to the teachers whom you’re working with, and that same attitude flows even to the learners.” Echoing this sentiment, Alan Hackett – member of the NASUWT Teacher’s Union in the UK – noted that, “At the moment what seems to happen is you have to wait until you’re diagnosed as being a problem. And then once you’ve fought the problem through that, they will consider reasonable adjustments as if they’re doing you some sort of great favour. We need to turn that around — it’s not a favour to get adjustments, it’s an expectation.”
Fred Haga, Head of the Directorate of Special Needs Education at Kenya’s Ministry of Education, reinforced this point, adding that awareness and open communication are key. He shared that sensitization sessions and reasonable accommodations – when informed by policy and implemented thoughtfully – can open pathways for support and career progression for teachers with disabilities and that inclusion is not achieved through policies alone, but through the daily practices, attitudes, and relationships that shape school life. He illustrated this through a personal example from his early teaching career: “When I was hired as a teacher, I got a really welcoming principal who decided he was going to be very, very supportive, but I think he didn’t know what to do… So he would end up discreetly listening to my lessons through the window… I later felt that this might not be very helpful. So I went to his office and we shared how best he could support me… When you sensitize the people you’re working with, especially your supervisors, it really helps.”
The panel affirmed that teachers with disabilities are not just beneficiaries of inclusion, they are agents of it. Their experiences, insights, and advocacy enrich the education workforce and bring unique expertise to building education systems that work for all.
As LGI and its partners continue to advance research and policy dialogue on inclusive education, the voices of teachers like Esther serve as a compass – reminding us that inclusion must be lived and practiced, not just promised. “If we don’t have really good inclusion agendas within our education systems, if we are not looking at the needs, the rights, the ideas, and the opportunities for teachers who are living with disabilities, then we actually disadvantage all children in our education systems.”
We closed on a reminder: “When we have inclusion in the truest, fullest sense of the word, it benefits everyone. It benefits our whole country and our international system.”
