4.2. QUESTIONNAIRE
4.2.5. Learner support
Availability of professional support
This question caused the greatest amount of confusion amongst the participants, with a number of them responding with ‘not sure’ for some of the questions. This question asked the participants to determine which of a list of professionals were available at the school to support the learners with barriers to learning. The participants were also asked to indicate whether the fee for such additional support was included in the general school fee, or if this was an additional cost to the parents. The professionals listed were as follows: inclusion specialist, remedial therapist, speech and language therapist, educational psychologist, other psychologist, occupational therapist and school counsellor. Due to the scatter amongst these scores, where more than 50% of the teachers in a school have indicated that such a professional is employed or available at the school, it will be presumed that this support is available. The contents of this question are verified through the interviews as well, thus the focus for this particular section will be on determining what support is available to the learners of each of these schools.
At School CG, the learners have access only to a school counsellor. According to the teachers at the school, there are no other professionals available to support the needs of these learners, although 4 of the teachers indicated that a remedial therapist is available at the school.
Figure 4.9 Prevalence of specific learning disabilities in the researched schools.
At School BG there is a remedial therapist as well as a school counsellor available. There was a lack of clarity as to whether there is an educational psychologist available or not, with only 4 of the participants indicating that there was the support of such a professional on campus.
School CI has the services of a remedial therapist as well as that of an educational psychologist and an occupational therapist. From the responses of the teachers at this school it can be deduced that the costs for this additional support is included in the general school fee.
At School GP, learners have access to support from an educational psychologist as well as from a school counsellor. Some of the teachers indicated that there was a remedial therapist as well as a speech and language therapist available, but this could not be confirmed from this question as only some of the teachers indicated this possibility.
School BP employs an inclusion specialist as well as a school counsellor. The services of an educational psychologist as well those of a remedial therapist and a speech and language therapist are also available to support the learners. Any fees associated with the inclusion specialist and the school counsellor is included in the general school fee.
60
58
45 7 7
18 32
26
34 ADHD - Inattentive
ADHD - Hyperactive Specific Learning Disability Dyspraxia
Dyscalculia
Non-verbal learning disability Central auditory processing disorder
Visual processing disorder Aspergers/autism
Finally, at School CP, the learners have access to the services of a remedial therapist, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist, an educational psychologist as well as a school counsellor. Some of the teachers indicated that there was an inclusion specialist available but this could not be confirmed in this question.
As one would expect, there is a definite link between the school fees charged and the availability of support at a school. In general, the private schools are able to provide their learners with more professional support than the government schools. However, it should be noted that this is not a perfect correlation as the most expensive schools do not have the same variety of services available as at some of the less expensive private schools. It is interesting to note that the two schools which have repeatedly scored well throughout the questionnaire, School BP and School CP, are the ones at which there is the greatest level of support and in particular they are the only 2 schools which had teachers indicate that the services of an inclusion specialist are available.
Question 5.2 dealt with issues surrounding when the learners would be able to receive support from the professionals during the day. From the teachers’ responses it is clear that the majority of learners receive support in the form of ‘extra’ assistance in the afternoons once the school day has been completed, or that learners may be pulled out of class to attend these lessons during the day.
At School CP, the learners are also provided with support within the classroom environment through the use of facilitators and teacher aides. Only 5 of the teachers indicated that the learners receive no support whatsoever, with one of these teachers being from School CG and the other 4 teaching at School CI. The majority of the teachers at School CG indicated that the learners are supported within the class through the teacher being accommodating of their needs. The only other schools to indicate this possibility were the boys’ schools, School BG and School BP. However only a few of the teachers at each of these schools indicated this, thus the results could not be confirmed.
Is there a co-ordinated approach to supporting learners with learning disabilities?
The purpose of this question was to gain insight as to whether the support available to learners is co- ordinated, and if so, who is responsible for the co-ordination of this support. Again, this was an area of confusion that will be addressed in more detail through the questionnaire process. The third part of this question was designed to determine whether the person who is responsible for this co- ordination is focused only on those learners with learning disabilities or on the general student body, as would be the case with a Head of Academics, for example.
At School CG, the teachers generally agreed that there is a co-ordinated approach with regards to supporting learners with learning disabilities; however there was a lack of consensus with regards to whether this responsibility lies with the school counsellor or the remedial therapist. The majority of the teachers agreed that the person responsible for this co-ordination looks after the affairs of the learners with learning disabilities.
At School CI, 6 of the teachers agreed that whilst there is support available to the learners in their school, there is not a co-ordinated approach in terms of one person overseeing this.
The teachers of School GP generally agreed that there is a co-ordinated approach to the support of these learners, with the school counsellor in charge of co-ordinating this support. However, this individual is responsible for co-ordinating support related to all of the learners attending the school, as opposed to focusing only on those learners with learning disabilities.
School CP had the greatest agreement in terms of this particular question with 90% of the teachers researched agreeing that there is a co-ordinated approach to supporting learners with learning disabilities in the school. The remedial therapist is responsible for the co-ordination of all support relating specifically to the learners with learning disabilities.
Similarly, School BP achieved the same scores with the vast majority of the teachers agreeing that the learners benefit from a co-ordinated approach in terms of the support the learners receive.
However, this support is co-ordinated by the school’s inclusion specialist who looks after the needs of all the learners in the school who have learning disabilities. Again, the feedback from Schools CP and BP highlight the importance of a co-ordinated approach in the implementation of inclusive education within a school.
The final school, School BG, has a co-ordinated approach for those learners with learning disabilities in the school. The remedial therapist at School BG is responsible for this co-ordination.
Question 5.4 and Question 5.5
Question 5.4 and question 5.5 were designed to determine the degree to which teachers are comfortable teaching learners with learning disabilities. Question 5.4 sought to determine which of the learning disabilities they are familiar with, whilst question 5.5 aimed to determine which of the learning disabilities the teachers are confident in providing support for within their classroom.
Literature has shown that the ability of a teacher to implement inclusive practices is improved with the teachers’ confidence levels in dealing with learners who have learning disabilities, as was seen in the study by D’Amant (2009).
Of the 60 respondents, 57 of the teachers indicated that they were familiar with ADHD, however, only 44 of these teachers feeling confident to teach learners with these disabilities. The next most common learning disability with which the teachers are familiar is specific learning disability. Forty- three of the teachers indicated that they were familiar with this learning disability, yet only 18 indicated that they were confident teaching learners with specific learning disability. The teachers were least familiar with dyspraxia and dyscalculia as conditions, with only 4 teachers indicating that they were confident in teaching learners with these disabilities. Nineteen of the teachers were familiar with non-verbal learning disability, but only 14 were confident teaching learners with this particular learning disability. The processing disorders were familiar to more than half of the teachers; with 28 of the teachers being familiar with central auditory processing disorder and 26 indicated a familiarity with visual processing disorder. However, in terms of their confidence in dealing with these disorders, only 17 indicated a confidence in dealing with central auditory processing disorder and only 16 felt confident teaching learners with visual processing disorder. The greatest difference between the 2 categories was seen in the autistic spectrum disorders. 37 of the teachers indicated a degree of familiarity with this disorder, yet only 11 felt confident in teaching learners who are on the autistic spectrum.
Interestingly, from the group of 60 teachers researched, 15 did not complete question 5.4 instead choosing to indicate that they are not confident in teaching learners with any form of learning disabilities. Seven of the teachers from School CI indicated that they are not confident in terms of teaching learners with learning disabilities, which may account for the lack of progress in terms of implementing inclusive education within this school.