Community-Based Education for Students with Developmental Disabilities in Tanzania

Based on a yearlong ethnographic study, this book describes the daily life and work of the Irente Rainbow School, a special education school for students with developmental disabilities in Lushoto, Tanzania.  It examines the use of local context, community funds of knowledge, culturally relevant pedagogy, and community support to teach students with disabilities important life skills, independence, self-advocacy and to fight for their human rights. This book offers several lessons for different audiences; it is a primer on disability and education in a rural African town, an alternative model for non-governmental agencies to consider in designing community-based and community-engaged programs, and a story about an exceptional group of teachers, students and families who took action to provide an education and a realization of rights for children with disabilities.   ?

Angela Stone-MacDonald is an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston in the Early Education and Care in Inclusive Settings program.  She received her doctorate from Indiana University in Special Education with minors in African Studies and International and Comparative Education. Angela has worked with people with disabilities for the last 15 years as a paraprofessional, teacher, consultant, and researcher.  Her areas of research include early intervention, international special education for children with developmental disabilities, and teacher preparation for early intervention. Her current research agenda includes work on immigrant family experiences in the early intervention system, and early intervention personnel preparation and inclusive education in Tanzania.  She has several grants to support her research from her university, the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, and the Office of Special Education Programs-US Department of Education.