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A university’s response to people with disabilities in Worcester, Western Cape

MÜLLER, Jana V.
NED, Lieketseng
BOSHOFF, Hananja
October 2019

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Background: The call for institutions of higher education to foster interaction with communities and ensure training is responsive to the needs of communities is well documented. In 2011, Stellenbosch University collaborated with the Worcester community to identify the needs of people with disabilities within the community. How the university was engaging with these identified needs through student training still needed to be determined.

 

Objectives: This study describes the engagement process of reciprocity and responsivity in aligning needs identified by persons with disability to four undergraduate allied health student training programmes in Worcester, Western Cape.

 

Method: A single case study using the participatory action research appraisal methods explored how undergraduate student service learning was responding to 21 needs previously identified in 2011 alongside persons with disability allowing for comprehensive feedback and a collaborative and coordinated response.

 

Results: Students’ service learning activities addressed 14 of the 21 needs. Further collaborative dialogue resulted in re-grouping the needs into six themes accompanied by a planned collaborative response by both community and student learning to address all 21 needs previously identified.

 

Conclusion: Undergraduate students’ service learning in communities has the potential to meet community identified needs especially when participatory action research strategies are implemented. Reciprocity exists when university and community co-engage to construct, reflect and adjust responsive service learning. This has the potential to create a collaborative environment and process in which trust, accountability, inclusion and communication is possible between the university and the community.

 

 

African Journal of Disability, Vol 8, 2019

Assistive technology enables inclusion in higher education: The role of Higher and Further Education Disability Services Association

LYNER-CLEOPHAS, Marcia
August 2019

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Background: Using assistive technology is one way to foster inclusion of students in the post-school education and training (PSET) sector.

 

Objectives: Higher and Further Education Disability Services Association (HEDSA) enables the sharing of new knowledge about assistive technologies through its symposia, and making information available on its website. Additionally, it facilitates dialogue and collaboration amongst institutions in the PSET network using a listserv and newsletters, given that PSET institutions are spread countrywide.

 

Method: This is an article based on a presentation at the 5th African Network of Evidence-to-Action in Disability (AfriNEAD) conference in Ghana in 2017 that focused on the value of assistive technology for students pursuing studies in the PSET sector and the role played by HEDSA in South Africa.

 

Results: The positive gains and existing gaps in disability inclusion in the higher education sector in South Africa are highlighted, with reference to access to technology. All higher education institutions have internet access and can thereby make use of listservs to communicate information. MapAbility is a way that prospective students can gain a snapshot view of available resources at institutions of learning, using the internet.

 

Conclusion: An association such as HEDSA plays a critical role in the PSET sector to enhance disability inclusion using online tools to disseminate information.

 

 

African Journal of Disability, Vol 8, 2019

A snapshot of the chalkboard writing experiences of Bachelor of Education students with visual disabilities in South Africa

SUBRAYEN, Roshanthni
DHUNPATH, Rubby
July 2019

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Background: South African higher education policy frameworks highlight renewed interest in equity, access and participation imperatives for students with disabilities (SWDs). However, students with visual disabilities continue to face barriers in their teaching practice school placements.

 

Objectives: This article aims, firstly, to provide early insights into the barriers experienced by students with visual disabilities in their teaching practice school placements in under-resourced schools in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Secondly, it introduces learning communities and a teaching practice pre-placement booklet to enhance equity, access and participation in teaching practice school placements.

 

Method: This study adopted a qualitative methodology using semi-structured interviews to elicit data from two Bachelor of Education students with visual disabilities, who were part of a teaching practice learning community managed by the Disability Unit at the University. Thematic analysis was used, using Tinto’s Learning Community Model which generated valuable evidence to argue for institutional commitment to achieve equity, access and participation for students with visual disabilities.

 

Results: Through engagement with a teaching practice learning community and a teaching practice pre-placement booklet, two students with visual disabilities responded to and managed the chalkboard in ways that promoted teaching and learning in the classroom. These retention support trajectories provide evidence to support enhanced equity, access and participation. Given the stigma associated with disability and the need for equity at policy level, higher education institutions should seriously consider systemic mechanisms for access, participation and success outcomes in the teaching practice school placements of students with visual disabilities.

 

Conclusion: Barriers to participation signal the need for accessible teaching and learning strategies for use by students with visual disabilities in their teaching practice school placements. Teaching practice assessors should be alerted to contextual differences in resourced and under-resourced school settings and the diverse ways in which SWDs navigate these differences.

 

 

African Journal of Disability, Vol 8, 2019

Current access and recruitment practices in nursing education institutions in KwaZulu-Natal: A case study of student nurses with disabilities

MOODLEY, Selvarani
MCHUNU, Gugu
2019

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Background: While institutions of higher education may have increased access and accommodation for students with disabilities, institutions primarily providing nurse training in South Africa do not mirror the same practice.

 

Objectives: Notwithstanding the integration of disability policies enacted in South Africa in 2010, a majority of people with disabilities are still excluded from the activities of society equally applicable to nursing education. This article describes the current access and recruitment practices for student nurses with disabilities (SNWDs) in nursing education institutions in KwaZulu-Natal to provide baseline data, which is largely absent in nursing institutions.

 

Method: A concurrent mixed-method design using a multiple embedded case study approach was employed. This article presented phase 1 of the study, a quantitative survey of all private nursing education institutions (n = 27), complemented by individual, in-depth interviews with SNWDs (n = 10). Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS version 24, with a response rate of 78% (n = 21), whereas qualitative data were analysed using content analysis.

 

Results: The findings revealed that the majority of private NEIs lack policy guidelines for recruiting SNWDs; however, other means of guidance is sought, for example, using the technical assistance. While NEIs were willing to recruit SNWDs, access to clinical sites, lectures, support systems and reasonable accommodation was challenging.

 

Conclusion: Private NEIs are providing an inclusive education to all students including those with disabilities; however, they still have a long way to go in meeting the needs of SNWDs with regards to support and accommodation.

 

African Journal of Disability, Vol 8, 2019

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