Challenges about Inclusive Education in the United Arab Emirates 7
3. Methods
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This study used a qualitative interpretative paradigm to assess the key areas of concern in the UAE
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inclusive education program. The researchers opted for this study because there are not many studies
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in the UAE context related to the perceived opportunities and challenges of in-service teachers
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regarding inclusive education. Therefore, the researchers assessed the perceptions of in-service
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teachers in the UAE regarding their preparedness and challenges they faced during inclusive
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education sessions.
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3.1 The specific objectives
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a. To analyze the perceptions of in-service teachers regarding their preparedness to teach
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inclusively.
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b. To analyze the perceived challenges faced by in-service teachers during the delivery of
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inclusive education sessions.
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c. To identify the key areas of concern in inclusive education in the UAE context.
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d. To suggest methods/ways for improving the inclusive education sector in the UAE.
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3.2 Sample
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This is a case study of an AlJalila Foundation inclusive education teacher professional development
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(TPD) program which involved 14 teachers from eight different schools across the UAE. The
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service teachers were interviewed after they had undergone the six-month long TPD program for
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disability inclusion.
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3.3 Data collection and analysis
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All the participants enrolled in this study did so voluntarily after providing written informed consent.
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The data collection was achieved through semi-structured, open-ended interviews with the 14
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service teachers who participated in the TPD program. The open-ended questions were designed as
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per the directions given in the study by Gibson and Brown (2009). To avoid bias, the teachers were
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given adequate time to think about, respond to and describe their perceptions. The participants were
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primarily Emirati Arab citizens; therefore, they were allowed to express their perceptions in their
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mother tongue to enable them to express their perceptions completely. Further, they were allowed to
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withdraw or modify their answers during the course of the interview. After recording the perceptions
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of the in-service teachers in Arabic, the researcher manually transcribed the results from Arabic to
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English. A double check was done independently by a research associate to avoid misinterpretations
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while transcribing. Qualitative data was analyzed using the content analysis method to identify the
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themes and important areas of concern in inclusive education in the UAE context.
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3.4 Ethical considerations
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The present study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) and Institutional Review
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Board (IRB). Further, to reduce ethical issues, the researchers followed the ethical guidelines laid
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down by Bell and Bryman (2007). Written informed consent forms were obtained from all
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participants and participation was purely voluntary. Any personal questions were excluded to
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maintain the participants’ dignity. Names and personal information of the participants were kept
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strictly confidential. The participants were allowed to withdraw their consent to participate at any
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time during the course of this study.
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4. Results
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Results of this study are categorised into two main themes, namely preparedness to teach inclusively
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and perceived challenges about inclusive education. Each of these themes is presented in detail along
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with direct quotes from the participants.
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4.1 Preparedness to teach inclusively
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All teachers who participated in the program attested that the program helped them to gain
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comprehensive knowledge about teaching children in an inclusive classroom. Some teachers did not
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specialize in special needs education and were learning content for the first time. Teachers who
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specialized in special education during their Bachelor’s degree stated that the TPD program was more
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of a refresher course and the content helped refresh their memories about implementing inclusive
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pedagogical practices. For teachers who studied general education without majoring in special
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education, the program was very transformative as it provided them with detailed information about
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inclusive education. One teacher said:
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Before joining this program, I was worried about having special need children in my class. But, after
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this program, I am excited to have them and to go to other teachers’ classes to see the type of special
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needs their children require and how they are teaching them. I am happy to tell other teachers what I
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learned from the program in order to help them improve their inclusive teaching approaches. After
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the program, I am now able to tell that special need children are not different from other children
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who do not require additional support and I am welcoming one or two children in my class.
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The program was praised for helping teachers gain new knowledge about inclusion. This
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subsequently made them feel prepared to teach as was confirmed by a teacher who said: ”I am 80%
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prepared. I now have a new way of looking at students with learning difficulties. I now know how to
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identify and support them. Before this program, I did not know.“ The program enabled teachers to
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learn how to teach and support children with diverse learning needs. This is confirmed by a
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participant who said:
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The program gave me a chance to follow up on special need children and to follow up their own blanks
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and to know how to deal with them. After the program, I began to assist children with different learning
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needs and I got more ideas and experience. The program was very helpful to me.
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Similarly, another teacher reiterated how the program prepared her:
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The program actually helped me in preparing materials and looking at things differently. There is no one
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strategy that works. A strategy that works with one student may not work with another. So, the
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program provided me with some ideas and strategies to help young learners with special needs. I do
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believe that I have a lot to learn and I am only in the beginning process.
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Another participant echoed the same sentiments about gaining knowledge from the program
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and how that helped improve students’ development:
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Every strategy and method that we learnt we could apply them in the classroom. We applied some of the
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strategies that were taught from the program. Thank God, we noticed development in the students’ level,
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whether development in terms of students’ academic level or in terms of the behaviour.
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Some participants who specialized in special education and had experience of working in
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inclusive classrooms found the program helpful and stated it was more like a refresher course. One
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participant who had prior knowledge of inclusion said:
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” I had most of the information already since I am a teacher. But I benefited from the new experiences,
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the new things they presented, and the discussions that were facilitated. “
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Another participant said:
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I had prior knowledge of inclusion. But this program refreshed and gave me more information. I gained a
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lot of data and experience. I struggled to recognize mental illness, or if a student had learning
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difficulties, but the program taught us the characteristics that distinguish each category, how to deal
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with them and special strategies for this group or special for students with physical disability.
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A participant who specialized in special education said:
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I was not certified in special education, yes, it would have prepared me. It would have given me a better
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insight. It was more of a refresher course. I have taught special education for ten years. So, they did not
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prepare me, but refresh my memory.
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Teachers who participated in this program felt it was worth their time and wished it was offered
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to all classroom practitioners as the content helped them prepare to teach inclusion more effectively.
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One teacher said:
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I would suggest that they take a teacher in each subject. That would be more beneficial. Now, there are
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only Arabic and English language teachers. If they would take the mathematics teacher, and the science
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teacher to attend the program as well. So, one teacher from each subject that would be more beneficial.
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Similarly, another participant said:
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One thing I would really push for them is that the organizers should not just get elementary and
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homeroom teachers. We have Arabic and Islamic teachers here and they need to go to this as well. The
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science teachers need to come to this as well because they deal with our children as well as kindergarten
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teachers. If all teachers attend this training, they will improve their inclusive approaches and teaching.
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Although teachers reiterated the effectiveness of the program in terms of preparing them to
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teach inclusively, they acknowledged that there are some challenges that they perceive. In-service
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teachers’ perceived challenges about inclusive education are discussed in the next section.
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4.2 Perceived challenges about inclusive education
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Collaboration between teachers and parents was noted as a perceived challenge by all the teachers.
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Teachers reported that they felt some parents with special needs children may not be cooperative.
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One participant said:
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Parents can be a big challenge. We may want to assist their special need children. When we tell them
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about their children’s learning problem and suggest ways to assist the learners, parents may not allow
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us to do this. So, this is the main challenge which we might face.
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Participants said that some parents did not collaborate with teachers. When they were informed
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about their children’s disability or learning difficulty, they tended to leave everything to be handled
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by the school without supporting the teachers. This was confirmed by a teacher who said:
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” not all parents are cooperative. Sometimes we tell them that their child is handicapped or has some
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learning difficulties. Some are not cooperative and they leave the child and everything to be done by the
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school. “Another participant echoed the same sentiment about parents not being cooperative, saying:”
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some parents do not know that their children have special educational needs. When we inform them,
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they either do not accept it or do not know how to deal with it. So, these are two challenges we might
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face.’ Another teacher said:” it will be difficult to work without parents’ support. We need their consent
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and support to be able to teach their special needs children effectively.’
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Another perceived challenge that was stated was that there were a large number of students in
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classes. Teachers raised this as a concern as there could be one special needs student in a large class
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and it was hard to meet the needs of all the students, especially the child with special needs. A
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teacher confirmed this saying:
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I perceive number of students in a class as a challenge. You may have one handicapped student with
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thirty other healthy students in one class. So, it will be hard to plan for that class because the teacher is
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not specialized in special education and it will be difficult to support all children in such a large class. So,
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we were hoping that the Ministry of Education would consider putting the merged handicapped students
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in classrooms with less density of students rather than the regular classrooms of children who are all
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healthy.
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Teachers were worried that they may not have adequate time to support all students if classes
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were too large. A participant supported this statement saying:” time to support all students in my
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class will be limited if classes are too big. There is no time. I need to give each student enough time,
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but that will be hard.’ Another participant echoed the same sentiment saying:” large numbers of
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students and absence of an assistant teacher will make it hard to teach and support special needs
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students in classes.” Participants reported that some classes were merged and they became too large;
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this would make it hard to teach effectively. A participant who commented on merged classes said:
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I foresee a challenge about large number of students in classes. They made a lot of merge processes this
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year due to the lack of teachers. After merging, the number of students in each class reached 35. When
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you have a handicapped student, that will make you slow down the progress of the lesson. You want to
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take care of him, and you do not want him to distract other students.
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Another participant mentioned the point of merged classes, but with reference to online
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learning. She said:
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The challenge I foresee is that there are merged students or handicapped who are unable to come to
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school. They ask us to teach them online. And honestly, I do not have experience in online education
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other than my student who was just sitting there, not responding, and not doing anything. I do not know
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how to get their attention and deal with them especially in online teaching.
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Some participants argued that shortage of assistant teachers or shadow teachers was a problem
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that may hinder the implementation of special education. One teacher said: ‘we do not have shadow
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teachers. We miss that. We hope that every student with a learning difficulty has a shadow teacher
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with him during class.’ Teachers reported that they needed assistant teachers to support them when
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teaching mainstream classes with special needs children. They also needed special education teachers
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for some specific subjects like English. This was supported by a participant who said:
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‘we have educational need supporting teacher for Arabic and Math, but not for English. That can be a
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challenge. We need a special education teacher for English.’
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Some teachers reported the issue of resources as a possible challenge. One teacher said: ‘so
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some of the challenges would be lack of resources. We need to use some resources with special need
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children, but some schools may not have them.’ Another participant reiterated the point of resources,
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saying: ‘we are missing a large part of the materials that are needed when teaching. Some of our
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schools’ lack readiness as they do not have required tools for us to use.’ Another participant agreed
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with the point of readiness, saying: ‘I feel some schools do not have coordinators and helpers to help
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teachers with special needs children. They do not have enough tools to enable teaching and learning.’