Developing a support programme for teachers involved with inclusion in South Africa (original) (raw)
Related papers
South African Journal of Education, 2015
While the practice of inclusive education has recently been widely embraced as an ideal model for education, the acceptance of inclusive education practices has not translated into reality in most mainstream classrooms. Despite the fact that education policies in South Africa stipulate that all learners should be provided with the opportunities to participate as far as possible in all classroom activities, the implementation of inclusive education is still hampered by a combination of a lack of resources and the attitudes and actions of the teachers in the classroom. The main purpose of this paper was to develop a deeper understanding of a group of South African teachers' personal understanding about barriers to learning and how their understanding relates to their consequent actions to implement inclusive education in their classrooms. A qualitative research approach placed within a cultural-historical and bio-ecological theoretical framework was used. The findings, in this paper, indicate that the way in which teachers understand a diversity of learning needs is based on the training that they initially received as teachers, which focused on a deficit, individualised approach to barriers to learning and development, as well as contextual challenges, and that both have direct and substantial effects on teachers' classroom practices. As a result, they engage in practices in their classrooms that are less inclusive, by creating dual learning opportunities that are not sufficiently made available for everyone, with the result that every learner is not able to participate fully as an accepted member of their peer group in all classroom activities.
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.
Journal of the Social Sciences
The policy of Inclusive Education (IE) in White Paper 6 (2001) acknowledges that all children can learn with support, and this paper emanates from research into the experiences of learning support teachers (LSTs) in supporting Foundation Phase teachers in implementing IE in Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is envisaged that the implementation of IE in South African schools would require well-planned district as well as school level support services, more than just accepting learners with different learning needs in mainstream classrooms. Many teachers have not had the benefit of being trained to teach learners who experience barriers to learning, hence most find it difficult. Although specialist teachers in the form of LSTs have been employed in the Foundation Phase to fill that gap and assist classroom teachers, the learners may not be receiving the assistance that they are hoping for. Based on an assumption that the failings may largely be systemic, the authors used Bronferbrenner's ecological systems theory and a qualitative research design to examine the implementation of IE in selected schools, with seven LSTs being interviewed and observed, while documents pertaining to the support rendered were analyzed. Analysis employed Creswell's method. Findings highlighted factors affecting implementation of IE, which include inadequate district support, socio-cultural issues, classroom and management factors, lack of resources and inadequate collaboration between the stakeholders. The study makes recommendations and suggests further areas of research.
Koers - Bulletin for Christian Scholarship, 2016
Inclusive education forms the ethos of the education system in South Africa and resonates with the Constitution of the country, which recognises diversity and resists exclusivity. Inclusive education is also reflected in education policies such as the Education White Paper 6: Special Education-Building an Inclusive Education and Training System and the Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) document. Pivotal to inclusive education is the provision of support for all learners and teachers. The focus of this paper is on the functionality of all the formal support structures that are in place for teachers and learners from the teachers' viewpoints. These support structures include District-Based Support Teams (DBSTs), Institutional-Level Support Teams (ILSTs), Full-Service Schools (FSS), Special Schools as Resource Centres (SSRC), Learning Support Educators (LSEs) and the community. An interpretive research paradigm was chosen, using convenience sampling and data was collected by means of focus group interviews. Constant comparative data analysis was employed. Peer review and member checks were used to ensure trustworthiness. The themes that emerged were support provided by teachers, the role of official support structures and special schools and community collaboration. It was evident, from the teachers' point of view, that the formal support structures are not as effective as proposed by policy and educational authorities and that the policy needs serious reconsideration .
Frontiers in Education
IntroductionSouth Africa embraced the move to inclusive education after the political transformation in 1994 by partaking in and subscribing to the international Education for All (EFA) drive initiated in 1990 at the Jomtien World Conference on Education for All, which declared that all children, youth and adults should receive a basic education. Furthermore, the Salamanca Statement of 1994 the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) of 2006 and the Sustainable Development Goal 4 are internationally regarded as the most important influence on the transformation of education systems to become more inclusive and consequently continue to have an important influence on education policies and practices in South Africa. The key policy driving inclusive education in South Africa is Education White Paper 6 (EWP6). EWP6 affirms that teachers play a central role in implementing an inclusive education system. Therefore, training is emphasized as a key s...
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.
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2014
Africa. This paper is a reflection on whether the policy is achieving its set goals by answering to the question: Are regular class teachers in South African public schools giving adequate attention to children with learning disabilities in their mainstream classes? As the cold face of the system, teachers always bear the brunt for the failure or success of any policy in education. Fore-grounded on a quantitative research paradigm, the paper adopted social learning theory as a lens through which both the theoretical and empirical parts of the study were conducted. The sample of the study consisted of one hundred and ten teachers all affected by the policy. Data analysis from the questionnaires indicated among other things that implementing the policy was not smooth sailing. With inadequate training on inclusivity, teachers were left by themselves and were grappling with a variety of challenges in implementing inclusivity in the mainstream classes. Recommendations are suggested to counteract the possible failure of this policy in South African public schools and elsewhere.
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.
Perspectives in Education, 2021
This study examined teachers' attitudes towards the inclusion of learners who experience barriers to learning in their classrooms. The study implemented the quantitative descriptive design. Sixtythree Foundation Phase (grades 1-3) teachers were recruited through the convenient sampling strategy from the Capricorn District in Limpopo Province in South Africa. Data were collected through a closed-ended questionnaire adapted from the Teaching for All (Department of Basic Education, 2019) student support materials for inclusive education commissioned by the British Council. Analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 for descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The findings indicated that overall, teachers were well disposed to include learners who experience barriers to learning in their classrooms. However, the teachers expressed concerns regarding some teachers' abilities that are required in inclusive settings for inclusion of these learners to happen. The study has some important implications for teachers, policymakers and researchers. The study may help to solidify teachers' positive attitudes as the creators of knowledge rather than always assuming the role of transmitters of information from the government. Policymakers may be informed about how to involve teachers in their development of policies on inclusive education. Lastly, for researchers these findings may help further research on how to understand problems related to the implementation of inclusive education.