Social Justice and Inclusion of Children With Diverse Needs in Mainstream Schools (original) (raw)
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Promoting the implementation of inclusive education in primary schools in South Africa
British journal of special …, 2006
The British Index for Inclusion was selected to be used in three primary schools in the Western Cape Province in South Africa in order to develop a South African model to assist in the development of inclusive schools. The Index for Inclusion process entails progression through a series of five developmental phases and this paper, written by Petra Engelbrecht, professor in educational psychology and special education and senior research director at Stellenbosch University, Marietjie Oswald, lecturer in special education at Stellenbosch University, and Chris Forlin, associate professor in special education at the Hong Kong Institute of Special Education, is a reflection of the first two phases. Qualitative data were generated from the consultative process followed in the schools during the first phase and both qualitative and quantitative data from questionnaires regarding the perceptions of all school community members on the inclusive practices or lack thereof in their schools during the second phase. The authors drew out the following five themes from the three sets of data: an inclusive school philosophy; democratic leadership, structures, processes and values; collaboration; addressing learner diversity; and resources. Petra Engelbrecht, Marietjie Oswald and Chris Forlin, all of whom were working on a UNESCO-funded project to trial the use of the Index for Inclusion in South Africa, suggest that these themes provided invaluable insights into both the common and unique complexities, the problems and the assets of the different school communities. The themes are discussed in detail in this article, raising fascinating issues for the development of inclusion in different contexts around the world, and will be used to inform the three remaining phases of the Index for Inclusion process.
Perspectives in Education, 2021
Inclusive education is the term used to describe an education system in which all learners are accepted and fully included, educationally and socially. The process of inclusion proves to have challenges in developing countries such as South Africa which adopted it a bit later than the developed countries. Research has mentioned that amongst other challenges is the lack of resources and overcrowding. Hence, this paper debates and discusses the challenges in the implementation of inclusive education in South African schools. The study was designed as a multiple case study research in which a qualitative research approach was employed. Three schools in the Buffalo City Metro and three participants per school participated in the study. Qualitative data analysis was grounded on an interpretive philosophy. The findings revealed that overcrowding, insufficient training, lack of knowledge and skills of educators were the overarching themes that resulted in educators feeling a sense of inadequacy to teach in an inclusive education classroom. The study will cover the challenges faced in the implementation of inclusive education. Therefore, the study recommends that inclusive education should cater to all learners irrespective of the type of disability.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES
The promulgation of the White Paper 6 in 2001 has laid the basis for the implementation of inclusive education in South Africa. However, South Africa has both effective schools which are known of quality teaching and learning and also less effective schools with poor teaching and learning. School effectiveness is mostly thought to be at the heart of effective implementation of educational practices including inclusive education. Therefore this paper examines the relationship between school effectiveness and the extent to which it impacts the practice of inclusion in secondary schools. The study was generatively qualitative and assumed a case study research design wherein data was collected by means of face to face interviews with secondary school principals and focus group interviews with school governing bodies and school management team members. Data was then analysed using constant comparative analysis within an inductive analytical framework. Among the finding of the study was that effective schools had effective leadership, well informed School Based Support Team and high collaboration among management leadership which were instrumental in enhancing inclusive practices within an effective school.
The extent and practice of inclusion in independent schools in South Africa
In line with international trends in education, South Africa has embraced inclusive education as the means by which learners who experience barriers to learning will be educated. As inclusion is beginning to be realised in South African schools, a gap in the em erging research base on inclusive education is that of inclusion in the independent sector. A study was undertaken to establish the extent to which learners who experience barriers to learning are included in independent schools belonging to ISASA (the largest independent schools association in South Africa) and the practices that facilitate inclusion. The results of a survey administered to principals were analysed quantitatively and reveal that most ISASA schools include learners who experience various barriers to learning and employ inclusive practices that are described in the international literature. We report on salient aspects emerging from the study and focus on the diversity of learners found in ISASA schools, as well as the inclusive practices found at school-wide, classroom, and individual levels. The practices described are the provision of on-site specialist personnel, support for teachers, building modifications to ensure access by persons using wheelchairs and various instructional practices and assessment adaptations. Recommendations arising from the study may give direction to South African schools pursuing inclusivity.
2013
Prior to the advent of the new democratic political dispensation in 1994, South Africaneducation had laboured under racially motivated discriminatory practices of active exclusion ofthe majority of learners. The authoritarian system located educational problems in the perceiveddeficiencies of the learner rather than in the repressive, top-down, non-participative, unreflectiveand uninclusive practices of the prevailing educational orthodoxy of the time. After 1994, thebroader reconceptualisation of South African education sought to redress the imbalances of thepast by creating equal opportunities for all learners, irrespective of race or creed. However, thedifficult conundrum was how such a complex systemic change could be driven by teachers whohad not only been trained in a heavily segregated educational system but formed part of it.Therefore, the aim of the thesis was to determine how teachers conceptualised inclusive teaching,explore the teaching practices that were believed to be...
International Journal of Inclusive Education, 2011
Since the move towards inclusion in line with international trends and South Africa’s attempts to address issues of marginalisation and discrimination amongst all learners, including those with special needs and disabilities, it has become evident on perusal of various research studies and reviews that there is an obsession with how far we have come since the introduction of an inclusive education policy in 2001 which formalises a strategy to ensure increased access and support for all learners within the system, including those with special needs and disabilities. There is an inherent assumption that we have not arrived as yet, and research suggests a continuing scepticism and lack of confidence amongst educators in mainstream settings to support children with disabilities in their schools and classrooms. This article focuses on research which shows that learners with disabilities are in fact being successfully included within one of these mainstream schools, by default and with a range of available support, despite not being designated as a ‘full‐service school’. The study is based on interviews with students with physical disabilities in a Black rural secondary school, as well as observations and interviews with staff and non‐disabled students. Findings reveal an existence of teacher, peer and community support, including from a neighbouring special school, suggesting a notion of inclusion which was about naturally putting values into action. Such practice, I argue, remains obscure and off the policy radar in South Africa.
South African parents’ understanding of inclusion and exclusion in education in primary schools
Perspectives in Education
Inclusive education has featured strongly in the South African education landscape since it was first incorporated into policy in 2001. Although parents are key stakeholders in the successful implementation of inclusive education, there has not been much research exploring parents' understanding within this space. Therefore, this study aimed to explore parents' understanding of inclusion and exclusion in education from seven primary schools in the Johannesburg area. This paper is based on the qualitative data drawn from a larger mixed methods study where 559 written responses exploring parents of primary school learners' understanding were analysed and 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the results. Four core themes were identified, namely, inclusion/ exclusion criteria, levels of inclusion and exclusion, effects of exclusion and the effects of inclusion. Sub-themes of interpersonal and extra-personal characteristics emerged for the theme of inclusion/exclusion criteria, while further analysis of levels of inclusion/exclusion resulted in the sub-themes of formal and epistemological access. It was clear that parents' understanding of inclusion and exclusion was grounded more in the practices of inclusion/exclusion as opposed to a more abstract, theoretical understanding. These results are discussed within the context of the SASA and Education White Paper 6 policy within South Africa, as well as literature around the types of educational access.
Exploring Effective Teaching Practices for Inclusion: A Case of a South African Secondary School
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES
The South African education system has undergone several changes at different levels since the advent of democracy in 1994, yet it still bears the hallmarks of the fragmented education system that was based on the policy of apartheid. Although Inclusive education has been adopted as a way of promoting access to education for learners experiencing barriers to learning and development, challenges persist. In this paper the researcher explored classroom teaching practices that are effective in promoting inclusion in South African secondary school, based on a case study in which a collaborative action research method was adopted. The research was qualitative and non-positivistic, and assumed a critical emancipatory approach. Data were collected from 15 teachers and a focus group composed of 12 learners. Various data-collection methods were employed, namely participant observation, interviews, focus group interviews with learners and research diaries. The researcher employed the principle of group interpretative analysis together with the teachers to analyse data and arrive at conclusions. Furthermore, findings indicate that knowledge about practices of inclusion is influenced by context of each school and the teachers' need to collaborate and reflect on practice in order to develop practices that enhance inclusion.