Kathleen Mortier

Kathleen Mortier

I am the coordinator of the extensive support needs program and the project director of California Deafblind Services. My first job after college was in the Deaf and Blind school in Bruges (Belgium). I learned about Community Based Rehabilitation in southern India and led a similar project in the capital of Honduras for two years. Back in Belgium, after getting my M.A. at SF State, I worked closely with families and schools who wanted to start with inclusive education for kids with intellectual disabilities and supported their efforts to organize as a parent advocacy movement for inclusive education. I was an inclusion support teacher for two students for several years. Around that time, I started working at the University of Ghent in a large-scale research project on inclusive education and I completed my Ph.D there as well. In 2015, I came back to SF State as a tenure-track faculty member in the Department of Special Education to work with Dr. Hunt and her team. My research interests focus on inclusive education, communities of practice, family-school partnerships for culturally and linguistically diverse families of children with disabilities, and literacy instruction for students with extensive support needs.

I was an international graduate student in the mod/sev disabilities program from 1996 to 1998. It was an experience that changed my life forever. The program was known nationally because Dr. Lori Goetz, Dr. Pam Hunt, and Kathy Doering were some of the pioneers of inclusive education at that time. Its model was so powerful because the vision of inclusion and social justice was paired with theoretical frameworks, tools and strategies, and also fieldwork in inclusive settings. The program also had a strong community component, I met two life-long friends there. My goal as the new coordinator is to honor this model of community and to prepare excellent SPED teachers who will become advocates for equal opportunities for students with extensive support needs and their families.

I strongly believe that students with significant disabilities deserve the absolute best teachers. A career in special education is a choice for the road less traveled, but it is very multifaceted job and there is so much worthwhile work to be done. Or as Helen Keller said, “Life is either a great adventure or nothing.” I hope you go for it.

Journal articles

  • Hunt, P., Mortier, K., Aramburo, C., Fleming, D., & Balasubramanian, L. (2022). Identifying commonly used literacy instructional practices for students with extensive support needs: Implications from a control group analysis. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 57(3), 272–286.
  • Mortier, K., Brown, I., Aramburo, C.  (2021). Cultural brokers in special education. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 46(1), 3-17. doi.org/10.1177/1540796920975386
  • Kozleski, E., Hunt, P., Mortier, K., Stepaniuk, I., Fleming, D., Balasubramanian, L., Leu, G.,Munandar, V. (2021). What peers, educators, and principals say: the social validity of inclusive,comprehensive literacy instruction. Exceptional Children, 87(3), 289-306.
  • Mortier, K., & Arias E. (2020). “The Latino community is not accustomed to arguing for the rights of their children”: how Latina mothers navigate special education. Journal of Latinos and Education.
  • Brown, I., & Mortier, K. (2020). “Watch your tone”: The experiences of African American parents of students on the autism spectrum in parent-school partnerships. Multicultural Education,8(1-2), 31-38.
  • Hunt, P., Kozleski, E., Jaehoon, J., Mortier, K., Fleming, D., Hicks, T., Balasubramanian, L., Leu, G., Bross, L., Munandar, V., Dunlap, K., Stepaniuk, I., Aramburo, C., & Oh, Y. (2019). Implementing comprehensive literacy instruction for students with significant disabilities in general education classroom. Exceptional Children, 86(3), 330-347.
  • Mortier, K. & Aramburo, C. (in press). Collaborative teaming to support quality inclusive education for students with disabilities. In Jung, L.A. (Ed.), Special Education Section; D. Fisher (Ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Education (online). New York: Taylor & Francis.
  • Mortier, K. (2018). Communities of practice: a conceptual framework for inclusion of students with significant disabilities. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 24(3), 329-340.
  • Mortier, K., & Vandelanotte, P. (2017). Belgium. In M. Wehmeyer & J. Patton (Eds.), The Praeger International Handbook of Special Education: Vol. 2 (pp. 249-262). New York: Praeger
  • Mortier, K., & Ranschaert, I. (2015). Inclusieve waarden en normen in ons onderwijs: waarom en hoe? [Inclusive norms and values in education: why and how?]. School- en klaspraktijk, 23(1), 2-12.
  • Mortier, K., Hunt, P., Desimpel, L., & Van Hove, G. (2012). Participatie van kinderen met een beperking en hun ouders in de realisatie van inclusief onderwijs [The participation of children with disabilities and thier parents in the realization of inclusive education]. Tijdschrift voor Orthopedagogiek, 51(4), 319-330.
  • Mortier, K., Desimpel, L., De Schauwer, E., & Van Hove, G. (2011). ‘I want support, not comments,’ children’s perspectives on supports in their life. Disability and Society, 26(2), 207-221.
  • Mortier, K., Hunt, P., Leroy, M., Van de Putte I., & Van Hove, G. (2010). Communities of practice in inclusive education. Educational Studies, 36(3), 345-355.
  • Mortier, K., Van Hove, G., & De Schauwer, E. (2010). Supports for children with disabilities in regular education classrooms: an account of different perspectives in Flanders. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 14(6), 543-561.
  • Mortier, K., Hunt, P., Desimpel, L., & Van Hove. (2009). With parents at the table: creating supports for children with disabilities in general education classrooms. The European Journal of Special Needs Education, 24(4), 337-354.
  • Mortier, K., Van Hove, G., De Schauwer, E., Van de Putte, I., & Loots, G. (2008). “Het is gewoon een kind”- Onderzoek over inclusief onderwijs, ervaring van leerkrachten [“It's just a kid” - Research on inclusive education, teachers' experiences]. Signaal, 64(4): 4-21.

Books

Mortier, K. (2010). Creating supports for children with disabilities in general education classrooms, from an expert model to a partnership model. Gent: Orthopedagogische Reeks.

Mortier, K. De Schauwer, E., Van de Putte, I., & Van Hove, G. (2010). Inclusief onderwijs in de praktijk [Inclusive education in practice]. Antwerpen: Garant.

Devroey, A. & Mortier, K. (2002). Polyfonie in de klas. Een praktijkboek voor inclusie [Polyphony in the class: a manual for inclusion]. Leuven: Acco.

Book Chapters

Mortier, K., & Aramburo, C. (in press). Collaborative teaming to support quality inclusive education for students with disabilities. In L.A. Jung (Ed.), Special Education Section; D. Fisher (Ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Education (online). New York: Taylor & Francis.

Mortier, K., & Vandelanotte, P. (2017). Belgium. In M. Wehmeyer & J. Patton (Eds.), The Praeger International Handbook of Special Education: Vol. 2 (pp. 249-262). New York: Praeger.

Van Hove, G., Mortier, K., De Schauwer, E., Roets, G., Leroy, M., & Broekaert. E. (2008). Research in inclusive education as a possible opening to disability studies in education. In S. Gabel, & S. Danforth (Eds.), Disability Studies in Education: an international reader. New York: Peter Lang Publishers.

Van Hove G., De Schauwer, E., & Mortier, K. (2007). Ouders van kinderen in inclusief onderwijsvragen om een bijzondere vorm van professionele begeleiding [Parents of children in inclusive education require a special kind of professional support]. In W. Buntix, & A. Van Gennep (Eds.), Professionaliteit in de hulpverlening aan mensen met verstandelijke beperkingen. Antwerpen: Garant.

Van de Velde, S., Mortier, K., & Van Hove, G. (2006). Het buitengewoon, geïntegreerd en inclusief onderwijs voor personen met een handicap [Special, integrated and inclusive education for people with a disability]. In W. Vanderplasschen, S. Vandevelde, C. Claes, E. Broekaert, & G. Van Hove (Eds.), Orthopedagogische werkvelden in beweging: historiek, organisatie en recente ontwikkelingen. Antwerpen: Garant.