My research looks at the issue of racial disproportionality as a systemic problem. Instead of looking at individuals with disabilities as the unit of analysis, I study structural contexts within which disability is produced. I study race-space relations, public policies, and school de/segregation politics that set the educational opportunities for students from different backgrounds. These factors may look distant from special education yet they reflect the nature of race relations that function as a background through which decisions, programs, and day-to-day practice are carried out.
Education
- PhD Special Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2021
- MS Special Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2015
- B.Ed Teaching, Satya Wacana Christian University, 2008
Select Publications
- Ko, D., Bal, A., Bird Bear, A., Orie, L., & Mawene, D. (2023). Learning lab as a utopian methodology for future making: decolonizing knowledge production toward racial justice in school discipline. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 1-19.
- Ko, D., Bal, A., Bird Bear, A., Orie, L., & Mawene, D. (2022). Indigenous Learning Lab as prefigurative political action to dismantle settler-colonial system of exclusion. International Journal of Inclusive Education Online Publication/Abstract.
- Afacan, K., Bal, A., Artiles, A., Cakir, H. I., Ko, D., Mawene, D., & Kim, H. (2021). Inclusive knowledge production at an elementary school through family-school-university partnerships: A formative intervention study. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction Online Publication/Abstract.
- Ko, D., Mawene, D., Roberts, K., & Hong, J. (2020). Boundary-crossing partnership towards culturally responsive special education: A systematic review. Remedial and Special Education, 1-14.
- Bal, A., Waitoller, F., Mawene, D., & Gorham, A. (2020). Culture, context, and dis/ability: A systematic literature review of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory-based studies on the teaching and learning of students with disabilities. Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 1-45. Online Publication/Abstract.
- Mawene, D., & Bal, A. (2020). Spatial othering: Examining residential areas, school attendance zones, and school discipline in an urbanizing school district. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 28(91), 1-26. PDF.
- Mawene, D., & Bal, A. (2018). Factors influencing parents’ selection of schools for children with disabilities: A systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Special Education, 33(2), 313-329. PDF.
- Bal, A., Afacan, E. M., & Mawene, D. (2016). Using learning labs for culturally responsive positive behavioral interventions and supports. Intervention in School and Clinic, 52(2), 122-128. PDF.
Select Presentations
- Mawene, D. (2023, April - 2023, April). Code Words: How Othering is Concealed through Institutional Policies and Everyday Discourse. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
- Mawene, D., Mayer-Jochimsen, M., Bal, A., Ko, D., Bird Bear, A., Orie, L., & Yoo, J. (2023, April - 2023, April). Learning Lab Methodology: Materializing Critical Policy Analysis. Roundtable presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
- Mawene, D., Bal, A., Bird Bear, A., Ko, D., Orie, L., & Mayer-Jochimsen, M. (2022, April - 2022, April). Creating Thirdspace through Indigenous Learning Lab. Roundtable presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
- Mawene, D. (2022, April - 2022, April). Spatial othering at the municipal, school district, and school levels: A case from a suburb. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
- Mawene, D. (2022, February - 2022, March). Spatial Othering: Racial Disproportionality in School Discipline and Special Education. Paper presented at the American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting, Virtual Meeting.
Select Awards and Honors
- University of New Hampshire College of Liberal Arts Global Racial and Social Inequality Lab Small Grant, 2023