CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.6 FINDINGS FROM IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS AND FOCUS GROUP
4.6.4 Theme 3: Inhibitors to implementing inclusive education
4.6.4.4 Parental resistance
Teachers view the resistance of parents towards inclusion as a major blow against inclusive education in rural areas. Teachers raised two points revolving around the issue of parental resistance against inclusive education; 1) parents fail to admit their children need help and 2) parents avoid their responsibility in the learning of their children.
• Parents fail to admit their children need help
Teachers showed understanding of the processes involved when referring a learner with special needs to a special school and how critical parental involvement is.
However, in the same sense, they complained about parents who resist playing their role in the process of referring learners to special schools. Parents refuse to admit that their child has special needs, and they must be admitted to a special school, and this ends up affecting the learner involved as they end up stuck in the mainstream without proper help. This is quite a burning issue because almost all the teachers shared the same sentiment with regards to parental resistance towards inclusion. T3B first tried to outline the process of referring a learner to a special school and then cited an example of a case in their school and how the ordeal affected them. T3B had this to say:
“Sometimes we screen the learner and then realise that the learner needs special education. We then call the parent of the learner but if the parent refuses to let the learner be referred, then we can’t do it. So, the parent is the one who has a final say. They must agree first. It’s a serious challenge because most parents of learners with special needs don’t agree to let their children be referred to special schools”.
“Most parents refuse. We once had a case where a learner was wearing diapers whilst he was here in grade 1 and when we told the parent that,” this learner is
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wasting time here, so he needs to go to a special school,” the parent refused stating that “the child was still too young”. So, we said “that is not the problem because the child will stay there” but the parent still refused us to prepare documents to refer the learner to a special school. The parent also stated that
“I am no longer going to be able to get the disability grant of the child”. So, the problem is that most parents are not clear about inclusive education”.
To support this view, T3C (focus group team) had this to say:
“Another thing that makes it harder for teachers is that as teachers, we can see that this learner has learning barriers. Then, when we call the parent of the learner so that we can discuss the matter and how we can assist the learner in question, the parent fails to admit that the learner has special needs/learning barrier. They normally say, “my child is fine”. From there, as a teacher, you would find it impossible to continue trying to assist the learner and sometimes you find that you have to invite an inclusive education specialist, but you fail because the parent doesn’t want to cooperate”.
Based on these views, sometimes parents cannot cooperate in inclusion related processes because they lack understanding of inclusive education. As stated by T2B, some parents fear that they might lose the type of grant they receive for the learner.
In the same sense, T1A cited an example of a case involving parents resisting inclusion because of social grant and how a learner ends up being a dropout due to the actions of their parents. T1A had this to say:
“The learner was referred to another special school called Special School because we talked to the parent earlier on. That parent was getting a social grant for the learner. The learner was getting money from the Social Services, so the parent was surviving ON that grant. The father was not working. When we talked to the parents, they did not agree to take the learner to the special school. We even involved the department of education. They came and screened that learner. They wrote a report that the learner must be referred to the psychologists at the hospital so that we must get a report so that the learner can be referred because the thing that makes the learner be admitted to a special, there must be a doctor’s report about the learner. So, that parent refused to take the learner; he then went to the hospital when the learner was
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13 years, and it was too late for that learner to be admitted because in our nearest special school admits a learner from 5 up to 14 years old”.
• Parents avoid their responsibility in the learning of their children
Whilst on the issue of parental resistance, teachers aired their views on the fact that except resistance of parents on referrals to special schools, parents also refuse to participate in assisting their children to learn in mainstream education. Schools like school B have a policy that makes it mandatory for parents to assist their children at home with schoolwork once teachers have identified a certain barrier leading to poor performance. However, teachers complained that parents fail to do what they are supposed to do, and it affects the learners. T2B had this to say:
“We are advised to work closely with parents of the learners, but you find that sometimes when you give the learner extra work to be assisted by their parent, the parent does not help. So, the learner would come to school and say, “my mother/father said I should tell you that he/she’s unable to do it”. That comes across as a surprise to us because we always tell parents that if you are unable to help your child, at least ask your neighbour for assistance and the failure of parents affects the learner and they end up not being helped”.
Some teachers like those in school C sacrifice their time to help learners after school hours so that they catch up with the rest of the class but since they must first get consent from parents, then it becomes impossible for some of the learners to get help.
This is because the parents refuse if their children were progressed to be taken to a previous grade for catch up or stay up for afternoon lessons. T2C (focus group team) had this to say:
“Sometimes we try to talk to the parents so that they allow us to take the learner to the previous grade though they have passed. Fathers normally don’t have a problem, but mothers always fight about it stating that their child has passed, then, why should they be taken back to the previous grade, meaning the child has to remain in the grade they were progressed to”.
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