Naraian, Srikala (sn2306)

Srikala Naraian

Professor of Education
Chair, Dept. of Curriculum and Teaching

Office Hours:

FALL 2026 IN-PERSON: Tuesdays: 3:00-4:30  ONLINE: Thursdays: 3:00–4:30

Educational Background

  • B.A. English, Madras University
  • M.A. Special Education, Michigan State University
  • Ph.D., University of Missouri-St. Louis

Scholarly Interests

disability studies in education; inclusive education; education of students with significant disabilities; inclusive education in international contexts; teacher preparation for inclusive education; narrative inquiry; post-qualitative inquiry

Selected Publications

Journal Publications:

Naraian, S. & Guarino, M. (2026). Dissing time, disabling narrative: Methodological turnings in neuroqueered inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry. Published online. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004261479736

Guarino, M. & Naraian, S. (2026). Unfolding towards inclusion: Disability as method in arts based research. Research in Arts and Education, 2026(1), 77-98. https://doi.org/10.54916/rae.163470 

Naraian, S. & Guarino, M.S. (2025). The affordance of sense: Worlding disability in research. Curriculum Inquiry, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2026.2688805Neufeld, M., Naraian, S., & Najib, A. (2025). Refusal as a praxis of teaching inclusively. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 1–19.

Naraian, S. Neufeld, M. & Bae, Y. (2024). Remembering to feel: Narrating and Teaching without Boundaries. Journal of Ontological Inquiry in Education. 2(1), 1-21.Naraian, S. & Guarino, M.S. (2026). The affordance of sense: Worlding disability in research. Curriculum Inquiry, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2026.2688805

Naraian, S. (2021). Making inclusion matter: Critical disability studies and teacher education. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 53(3), 298-313

Naraian, S. (2019). Precarious, debilitated, ordinary: Rethinking (in)capacity for inclusion. Curriculum Inquiry, 49(4), 464-484.

Books:

Amrhein, B. & Naraian, S. (2022) Reading Inclusion Divergently: Articulations From Around The World. Emerald Publishing.

Naraian, S. & Schlessinger, S. (2021) Narratives of Inclusive Teaching: Stories of “becoming” in the field. Peter Lang

Naraian, S. (2017). Teaching for inclusion: Eight Principles for Effective and Equitable Practice. In A. J. Artiles and E. B. Kozleski (eds.) Disability, Culture and Equity book series. Teachers College Press.

 

 

 

(Re)assembling Inclusion: Perspectives of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities

(Supported by a grant from the Spencer Foundation # 202400024)

How do students with intellectual/developmental disabilities feel about school? Avoiding a reliance on langugage-based methods, this project uses an arts-based approach to inquire into student imaginigs of school. Conducted over a the course of a school year (2023-2024), we worked with two groups of 5-6 students over a total of 16 art-making sessions. Students created art in accordion books as they came together around focal questions about school and learning. Collectively, they invite us to inquire into inclusive processes in new ways.

Our learnings from this project lead to the curation of an exhibit Sensory Interruptions at the Digital Futures Institute, Teachers College, in March of 2025.

Publications:

Naraian, S. & Guarino, M.S. (2026). The affordance of sense: Worlding disability in research. Curriculum Inquiry, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2026.2688805

*Guarino, M. & Naraian, S. (2026). Unfolding towards inclusion: Disability as method in arts based research. Research in Arts and Education, 2026(1), 77-98. https://doi.org/10.54916/rae.163470

Naraian, S. & Guarino, M. (2026). Worlding practices for non-speaking students. In D. Connor and J. Valle (Eds.) Rethinking Disability: A Disability Studies Approach to Inclusive Practices. Routledge.

 

 Teacher Education Practices for Inclusive Education: A Paradigm Shift to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

Supported by Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration. (2023). Sponsored by Govt. of India.A research collaboration with the School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, India.

Publications: 

Naraian, S. & Guduru, R. (in preparation). Bringing forward "what's in the back of my mind": A cartography of stillness and movement in professional development for inclusion. To be submitted to Teaching and Teacher Education. 

 

A posthumanist disability studies in education project on teachers' experiences

Supported by Dean’s Competitive Grant for Tenured Faculty (awarded May 2020). The project inquire into the experiences of 4 teachers (all graduates of the Elementary Inclusive Education Program at Teachers College) to understand inclusive teaching as an embodied phenomenon.

 

Publications:

*Neufeld, M., Naraian, S., & Najib, A. (2025). Refusal as a praxis of teaching inclusively. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2025.2492726

*Naraian, S. Neufeld, M. & Bae, Y. (2024). Remembering to feel: Becoming-with in narrative inquiry with an inclusive educator. Journal of Ontological Inquiry in Education. 2(1), 1-21.

*Neufeld, M. & Naraian, S. (2024). Getting Lost with artifacts in teacher inquiry. Qualitative Research, 0/0 https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941241306218

*Naraian, S. & Neufeld, M., & Brown, T. (under review). Travel(ing) tales of inclusion: Speculative practices for thinking-with. International Journal of Inclusive Education.

 

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