Exploring teaching practices that are effective in promoting inclusion in South African secondary schools (original) (raw)
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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.
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.
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.
the state of inclusive pedagogy in South Africa
2012
The states of inclusive pedagogy in South African schools remain bleak and teachers are in the dark about what constitutes an inclusive pedagogy in the South African context. This is despite policy changes since the advent of the new educational dispensation in 1994. In this review article the researcher presents the background in terms of inclusive education developments, both within historical and policy contexts. While articulating the conceptualization of inclusive education, the paper also discusses the model of inclusive education with reference to the role of all levels of ecosystemic system support such as school, district, provincial and national level of education. Further, the way barriers to learning and the notion of inclusive pedagogy are conceptualized within the South African context are discussed. The paper concludes by reviewing the current state of inclusive pedagogic practice in the South African classrooms. Among the findings of this paper is that the way inclusion is conceptualized still bears the hallmarks of the special needs education of the past education dispensation. The paper concludes that a shift from the special need approach to the conceptualization of inclusion is required.
The State of Inclusive Pedagogy in South Africa: A Literature Review
JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The states of inclusive pedagogy in South African schools remain bleak and teachers are in the dark about what constitutes an inclusive pedagogy in the South African context. This is despite policy changes since the advent of the new educational dispensation in 1994. In this review article the researcher presents the background in terms of inclusive education developments, both within historical and policy contexts. While articulating the conceptualization of inclusive education, the paper also discusses the model of inclusive education with reference to the role of all levels of ecosystemic system support such as school, district, provincial and national level of education. Further, the way barriers to learning and the notion of inclusive pedagogy are conceptualized within the South African context are discussed. The paper concludes by reviewing the current state of inclusive pedagogic practice in the South African classrooms. Among the findings of this paper is that the way inclusion is conceptualized still bears the hallmarks of the special needs education of the past education dispensation. The paper concludes that a shift from the special need approach to the conceptualization of inclusion is required.
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...
Towards an inclusive pedagogy in South Africa
The Journal of Quality in Education, 2018
Very little has been done concerning mass education since it was introduced for working class children in developing and poor countries. Bowles and Gintis (1976) warned us that schools reproduce the status quo. When developed nations plan they plan for the middle class because the middle class are in the majority. Developing countries, following this model also plan for the middle class but the majority of children in developing countries are working class. This action further marginalises the working class. Whilst this paper is contradictory in suggesting a first world inclusive education model I am of the view that you cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater. There is enormous merit in following the inclusion model since it holds promise for working class children and vulnerable children who constitute the majority population in developing countries schooling systems. Developing countries should plan on the basis of the specificities of their contexts and continue to refine t...
Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences
South Africa has adopted inclusive education system since 2001. The White Paper 6 was the first indication that inclusive education was to be implemented in schools. The implementation of inclusive education coincided with the political changes to de-racialize the population and bring national unity and cohesion. However South African remains one of the racially and ethnically divided nation in the world. This paper therefore analyses the role of race in relation to inclusive education. Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Realism (CR) were used as lenses to understand the phenomena of race and inclusion. Interviews were conducted with selected black-African learners who attended school in previously advantaged white South African Secondary schools. An inductive analytical framework was used to understand the patterns and trends from the interview data. Among the findings is that while there have been policy shift towards inclusive education, exclusionary tendencies are still prevalent due to racially based attitudes in South African schools.
Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies
One of the chief goals of inclusive education is to provide pre-service teachers with a learning environment and prospects that enable them to become independent, responsible and critical educators. This study sought to determine how pre-service teachers at a South African university experienced inclusive education training. A purposeful sample of 6 pre-service teachers was selected. Data were collected using open-ended questionnaires which were exploratory in nature, and then analysed thematically. Findings showed inter alia that studying inclusive education proved to be an “eye opener”: students were enlightened to various aspects of being an educator: (i) curriculum differentiation, (ii) diversity, (iii) learners’ rights and (iv) the fact that learners experiencing various barriers to learning can be accommodated successfully in regular classrooms. It was revealed that studying inclusive education allowed pre-service teachers to appreciate the scope, value and higher purpose of ...