Teacher Related Challenges Experienced in The Implementation of Inclusive Education in One Selected Mainstream School in South Africa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23918/ijsses.v12i1p100Keywords:
Teacher Related Challenges, Implementation, inclusive education mainstream school, South AfricaAbstract
The realization of inclusive education in South African schools has been controversial. Despite enacted policies, inclusive education implementation remains low in schools. The study aimed to explore teacher related challenges experienced by teachers in implementation of inclusive education in one selected mainstream school in South Africa. The social model of disability approach served as the theoretical foundation for the current investigation. The present study was conducted using a qualitative research methodology with a case study as the chosen research design within an interpretivist research paradigm. The researcher used non-participant observations and semi-structured interviews to gather data. Interviews with just six individuals and one classroom observation were conducted. The study reported that teacher related challenges include negative attitudes, inadequate knowledge of inclusive education policies, low self-efficacy towards inclusive education, and a lack of teacher training on inclusive education aspects. The study recommends that the Department of Education prioritizes in-service teachers' initial and ongoing training on knowledge of disabilities, identification and their effective management.
References
Ainscow, M., Slee, R., & Best, M. (2019). The Salamanca Statement: 25 years on. International Journal of inclusive education, 23(7-8), 671-676.
Alhassan, A.M. (2014). Implementation of inclusive education in Ghanaian primary schools: A look at teachers` attitudes. American Journal of Educational Research, 2, 142-148.
Avramidis, E., & Norwich, B. (2002). Teachers' attitudes towards integration / inclusion: a review of the literature. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 17, 129 - 147.
Lisicki, B. (2013). The social model of disability. Retrieved from www.inclusionlondon.org.uk on 6th August 2021.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 158 - 166.
Cenci, A., Bôas, D. F. V., & Damiani, M. F. (2016). The challenge of inclusive education in a Brazilian School: teachers’ concerns regarding inclusion. Research, Society and Development, 2(2), 94-106.
Daniels, T., & Schoem, S. (2020). Preparing inclusive educators through transformative learning. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 163, 83-90
Donohue, D., & Bornman, J. (2014). The challenges of realizing inclusive education in South Africa. South African Journal of Education, 34(2), 1-14
Du Plessis, P. (2013). Legislation and policies: Progress towards the right to inclusive education. De Jure, 46(1), 76-92.
Ewing, D.L., Monsen, J.J., & Kielblock, S. (2018). Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education: A critical review of published questionnaires. Educational Psychology in Practice, 34, 150 - 165.
Gill, S. L. (2020). Qualitative sampling methods. Journal of Human Lactation, 36(4), 579-581.
Jali, J.S. (2014). Challenges of teaching in the context of inclusive education: An exploration. (Master’s thesis, University of KwaZulu Natal Edgewood Campus).
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage publications.
Ludago, T. B. (2020). Practices, challenges, and opportunities of inclusive education implementation in Kambata Tambaro Zone, Ethiopia. Open Access Library Journal, 7(02), 1-10.
Maguire, M., & Delahunt, B. (2017). Doing a thematic analysis: A practical, step-by-step guide for learning and teaching scholars. All Ireland Journal of Higher Education, 9(3), 1-14
Mason, M. (2010, August). Sample size and saturation in PhD studies using qualitative interviews. In Forum qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative social research 11(3), 1-20.
Mertens, D. M. (2010). Philosophy in mixed methods teaching: The transformative paradigm as illustration. International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, 4(1), 9-18.
Mncube, V., Lebopa, N., & Titus, A. B. (2020). Challenges in implementing inclusive education in some selected South African Schools. Journal of Human Ecology, 70(1-3), 98-109.
Mokaleng, M., & Möwes, A.D. (2020). Issues affecting the implementation of inclusive education practices in selected secondary schools in the Omaheke Region of Namibia. Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series A, 9, 78-90.
Mpanza, L.S.P., & Govender, S., (2022). Primary school-based support teams' experiences and practices when supporting teachers. Multicultural education, 8(2), 272-287. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6323544
Naicker, S. (2014). "Special Education Today in South Africa". Special education international perspectives: Practices across the globe (Advances in Special Education, Vol. 28), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 397-429. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0270-401320140000028020
Ozel, E., Ganesan, M.Z., Daud, A.K., Darusalam, G., & Ali, N.A. (2018). Critical issue teacher training into inclusive education. Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience, 24(7), 5139-5142
Phiri, P.P (2021). Teacher’s experiences of implementing inclusive education in mainstream secondary schools in the Hhohho region, Eswatini (Swaziland) (Master’s thesis, University of South Africa)
Rehman, A. A., & Alharthi, K. (2016). An introduction to research paradigms. International Journal of Educational Investigations, 3(8), 51-59.
Showkat, N., & Parveen, H. (2017). In-depth interview. Quadrant-I (e-Text). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319162160_In-depth_Interview#fullTextFileContent
Soliman, M. (2020). Self-efficacy sources among general education teachers in inclusive schools: A cross-cultural study. Artificial Intelligence, 9, 67-76.
Tomlin, H. (2016). Contesting ideologies and the struggle for equality: Reconsidering the politics of education in South Africa. Policy Futures in Education, 14(6), 846–863. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210316658163
UNESCO, (1994). The Salamanca Statement and Framework for action on special needs Education. Adopted by the World Conference on Special Needs Education: Access and Quality. 1-50
UNESCO (2020). Towards inclusion in education: Status, trends, and challenges. The UNESCO Salamanca Statement 25 years on. Paris: UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374246.
Van Zyl, S. (2011). Types of qualitative data analysis. Humanities Graduate Centre,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Zainal, Z. (2007). Case study as a research method. Journal Kemanusiaan, 5(1), 1-6.
Zwane, S. L., & Malale, M. M. (2018). Investigating barriers teachers face in the implementation of inclusive education in high schools in Gege branch, Swaziland. African Journal of Disability, 7, 391-401. https://doi.org/10.4102/ajod.v7i0.391
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational StudiesInternational Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies applies the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic Licence (CC BY-NC 2.0)