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Investigating barriers teachers face in the implementation of inclusive education in high schools in Gege branch, Swaziland

ZWANE, Sifiso L.
MALALE, Matome M.
2018

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Background: The kingdom of Swaziland is a signatory to policies on universal education that ensure high quality basic education for all. Education for All is a commitment to provide equal opportunities for all children and the youth as provided for in the country’s constitution of 2005. The tone for the introduction of inclusive education in Swaziland was inevitably set by the new constitution of 2005. Since then several policies have been produced by the government, all aimed at providing equal education opportunities to all children in the country. These policies include the Swaziland National Children’s Policy (2009), Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan (2006) and Draft Inclusive Education Policy (2008). The Education for All Policy (2010) is the policy that upon implementation became a stimulus for the introduction of inclusive education into mainstream schools; as a result, all teachers in the country’s schools were expected to be competent enough to teach learners with a wide range of educational needs. However, in-service teachers received inadequate staff development and training ahead of the implementation of inclusive education and a majority of teachers were not professionally developed for inclusive education, as pre-service students at tertiary training level.

 

Objectives: This study investigated barriers in the implementation of inclusive education at high schools in the Gege branch, Swaziland, with a view to finding lasting solutions to inform research and government policy.

 

Method: This research is a qualitative interpretive case study based on selected schools in the Gege branch of schools. Data was obtained through semi-structured research interviews and document analysis. It was processed and analysed through data coding, unitising, categorising and emergence of themes, which became the findings of the study.

 

Results: Lack of facilities in the governments’ schools and teachers’ incompetence in identifying learners facing learning challenges in their classrooms are some barriers to inclusivity.

 

Conclusion: The study concludes that there is a need for the Ministry of Education and Training to craft an inclusive curriculum in line with the inclusive policy in order to cater for the diverse educational needs of all learners in mainstream schools. It is thought that instituting a vibrant in-service and pre-service teacher training programme by the Ministry of Education and Training will increase teachers’ capacity to a level where teaching in inclusive classrooms does not negatively affect their competence.

Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP): a cultural validation and investigation of its perceived usefulness in the context of the Swedish preschool

LUNDQVIST, Johanna
LARSDOTTER BODIN, Ulrika
2018

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The Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP) is a structured observation instrument. It has been developed to support high-quality early childhood inclusion of children with special educational needs and disabilities. The aim of this study is to examine the cultural validity of the instrument in Swedish preschools and to investigate its perceived usefulness in a Swedish preschool context. Ten special educators, who conducted professional dialogues with preschool teachers and other preschool staff members in a Swedish municipality, were enrolled. The instrument was compared with the Swedish national curriculum for the preschool, and the perceptions of special educators were collected by way of dialogue seminar method. Thematic analyses were conducted. The results of the study show that the instrument, with few exceptions, is valid in Sweden, and that the instrument can be useful for special educators conducting professional dialogues about early childhood inclusion with preschool teachers and other preschool staff members. The study has relevance for those who work with early childhood inclusion in Sweden as well as elsewhere, and for those who plan to validate the instrument and investigate its perceived usefulness in a context pertinent to them. High-quality inclusion is on the agenda in many nations, and a Sustainable Development Goal.

Support to address barriers to learning for learners who are deaf

MAPEPA, Peter
MAGANO, Meahabo D.
2018

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Background: There is great importance in support services for successfully addressing the barriers to learning optimally or learners who are deaf. The study, though conducted in South Africa, has national and international appeal.

 

Objectives: The aim of the study was to identify educator reflections on support services needed for them to address barriers to learning of learners who are deaf.

 

Method: The study used a qualitative design for collecting data in natural settings. A sample size of 11 educators of learners who are deaf was purposively selected from two provinces of South Africa. The study used an open ended individual interview questionnaire.

 

Results: Data was analysed using qualitative content analysis considering the context of the schools in which the study was carried out. Results showed that there was: limited curriculum support in special schools; lack of support and inadequate teaching and learning materials; overcrowding in one school and; limited support of multidisciplinary professionals in most schools.

 

Conclusion: The study provided a framework for support services important for research, policy and practice. Of significance was the relevance of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) theoretical framework in implementing support services programmes in schools.

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