Research studies have shown that schools in South Africa face many challenges in implementing inclusive education (IE) for children with disabilities. The primary objective of this study was to examine the implementation of IP policies for children with physical and sensory disabilities in six public elementary schools in the Pinetown district. The main conclusion of this study was that public primary schools were not implementing IE legislation and policies.
The schools accommodated children with limited physical and sensory disabilities, provided they were self-supporting and did not rely on the teacher or other students to move them around. Children with severe physical and sensory disabilities were not admitted to these schools either because parents did not refer to mainstream schools or because the previous procedures of referral to special schools were still practiced. Regardless of legislation and policies on IE, children with disabilities continue to be segregated on the basis that they still do not receive an education alongside their able-bodied peers.
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child EWP6 Education White Paper Six. ACRWC African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children Persons with Disabilities DPSA South Africa.
INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
- INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE FOR STUDY
- RESEARCH PROBLEM
- RESEARCH AIM
- RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
- RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
- STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION
The 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989) established specific human rights (HR) for children with disabilities (Article 23). Following this international instrument was the adoption of the local African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child 1990 (ACRWC) which promotes social integration of persons with disabilities (Article 13) and the right to education of every child (Article 11 ). Significant gaps in knowledge remain a problem and the underlying cause is the inadequacy of the efforts of governmental and non-governmental actors to fulfill the rights of children with disabilities (DSD, 2012).
The primary aim of the study was to explore the implementation of inclusive education policies for children with physical and sensory disabilities in six public primary schools in the Pinetown district. First, Bronfenbrenner described “the microsystem as the most proximal setting, with special physical characteristics” (as cited in Rosa & Tudge). He also argued that “the setting is one in which the activities, interpersonal roles, and relationships entered into over time are the most important. constructive elements” (as quoted in Rosa & Tudge.
Bronfenbrenner stated that the influence of the macrosystem on other ecological settings is reflected in how lower systems (eg, schools) function” (as cited in Rosa & Tudge. In the final stage of Bronfenbrenner's theory development, he developed the concept of a 'chronosystem', which represents the "importance of time" (as cited in Rosa & Tudge, 2013:256).
LITERATURE REVIEW
- INTRODUCTION
- DEFINITION OF DISABILITY
- PREVALENCE OF DISABILITY
- MEDICAL APPROACH & SOCIAL APPROACH
- Medical Approach
- Social Approach
- Human Right Approach
- Developmental Approach
- INTERNATIONAL LAW
- The Salamanca Statement and Framework for action on special
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006
- NATIONAL LEGISLATION AND POLICY
- The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 108 of 1996
- The National Educational Policy Act 27 of 1996
- The Education White Paper Six - Building an inclusive
- The South African Schools Act 1996
- DEFINITION OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
- CHALLENGES FACED IN IMPLEMENTING INCLUSIVE EDUCATION.…25
- Support from the Community
- Teachers’ skills and training
- Support from the Principal
- Support from the District Based Support Team
- Support from the Department of Education
- Infrastructure and equipment
- CONCLUSION
This introductory chapter included the background and outline of the research problem, research purpose, objectives, research questions and theoretical framework.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
RESEARCH APPROACH
RESEARCH DESIGN
SELECTION OF SCHOOLS
PARTICIPANTS IN THE STUDY
DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES
- Semi-structured interviews
- Observation
METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
- Planning for recording data
- Data collection and preliminary analysis
- Managing data
- Reading and writing memos
- Generating categories and themes
- Coding the data
- Testing emergent understanding
- Searching for alternative explanation
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
- Credibility
- Transferability
- Dependability
- Confirmability
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
CONCLUSION
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS…
INTRODUCTION
SHORT PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS AND DESCRIPTION OF THE
DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS
IMPLEMENTATION OF IE POLICY AND LEGISLATION
- Understanding of IE
- Access to the EWP6
- Interpretation of IE
- Perceptions about implementation of IE
- Admission
- No applications
- Referral to special school
- Opinions on admitting children with severe
- Opinions on admitting children with limited
- Infrastructure and resources
- Current school layout
- No budget from the DoE
- Large class sizes
- Teacher training
- Disruption of classes
- Not enough workshops therefore limited
- The psychology or emotion of the child
- Sign language
- Demotivation
- Parent support
- No support
- Limited to positive support
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PARTICIPANTS
- Need for teacher training college
- Accommodation for children with limited disabilities
- Teacher volunteers and special classes within the school…
- Donations and sponsorships
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter summarizes the main findings, conclusions and recommendations from Chapter 4. The main aim of the study was to investigate the implementation of IP policies for children with physical and sensory disabilities in six public primary schools in the region. Pinetown Neighborhood. The objectives of the study include exploring the factors that positively and negatively impact the admission of students with physical and sensory disabilities, the experiences and challenges of implementing IP policies and the steps taken in the schools put in place to promote IP, as advocated in policy documents.
SUMMARY OF THE MAIN FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
- Factors that positively and negatively impact on the admission
- Steps taken at schools in furthering inclusive education
It can be assumed that many parents may not be aware of the rights to educate their children with special needs in regular schools and therefore apply only to special schools. Based on the findings, these factors were the main reason for non-compliance with the policy. The layout of schools has not been changed or adjusted since the DoE introduced EWP6 in 2001.
No other adjustments have been made to the buildings at any school to make them inclusive. The DoE, a department of the South African government, oversees education and policy implementation in South Africa. The findings also show that the DoE has no budget to assist with anything other than the annually determined allocation for each school, which is insufficient for the maintenance of the school.
Training for an inclusive class should include managing the psychology or emotion of the child and learning sign language. For example, apart from the one school where only two teachers attended a workshop, none of the other teachers attended training on IE. An important aspect of teacher training must include the psychology and emotion of the child with disabilities.
She stated that teachers just need to open that line of communication to help in a mutual working relationship for the betterment of the child. They are aware of the reality of the situation in schools and are pessimistic about the implementation of EI in the near future. The principals were also not clear on the directives for the implementation of EI in their schools due to the lack of workshops, the lack of guidelines regarding the admission procedures regarding the severity of the disability and the parameters they had to work with. .
For example, children who are visually impaired are seated at the front of the class and worksheets and paperwork are all enlarged. These are some of the techniques used in mainstream schools to accommodate only children with limited disabilities. Despite this taking up much of the principal's time to secure sponsorships, she has successfully turned her school around by providing facilities for the children.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- Policy directives with effective monitoring
- School principals to be fully orientated to IE policy
- Weighting system
- Tertiary institutes to include IE modules…
- Ongoing teacher training
- Public awareness
- Budget allocation
- Sponsorships, donations and fund raising
For example, one participant reiterated that children must be self-sufficient to be admitted to that school. For example, children with hearing problems are accommodated by a teacher who uses a microphone to speak to the child, looks at the child when he speaks so he can read lips and children with limited physical disabilities are accommodated by being given extra time to go to classes step or tasks to complete. There have been no significant changes to school practices and procedures in the last 14 years since the DoE issued EWP6 in 2001.
Effective monitoring of the implementation of legislation and policy in schools and the consequences of non-compliance should be ensured. Headteachers are the leaders of any school and it is clear that any policy that is implemented must be understood by the person leading the school and this understanding must be communicated to the staff below. IE should be included in tertiary institutes to prepare future teachers to teach children with special needs.
It is clear that teachers already in the system with years of experience still lack the skills required to teach children with disabilities. This training should be mandatory with support structures in place to help when challenges are faced. Teachers and training staff should share success stories on methods that work in their school to be able to learn from each other.
Many people are not aware of the right to education that their child with disabilities is entitled to in mainstream schools. Schools and government bodies should be more proactive in protecting the rights of children with disabilities. This should be done at the community level in the vicinity of each school so that information is easily accessible with clear lines of communication.
The biggest challenge experienced in all the schools is the lack of funding received from the DoE to make the necessary changes in transforming the schools to become more inclusive. There is a need for funds to be allocated to mainstream schools to make them inclusive instead of allocating a larger portion to special schools. Incentives should be given to schools and fundraising committees that make extra efforts to raise funds, as insufficient budget allocation is a problem in all schools.
RECOMMENDATION FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
CONCLUSION
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We have moved away from disability as a health issue, it is a human rights issue': reflecting on 10 years of the right to equality in South Africa. Implementation of Inclusive Education in Three Schools of Mthatha District in the Eastern Cape Province, South. Human Rights Watch, "Complicit in exclusion": South Africa's failure to guarantee an inclusive education for children with disabilities, August.
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UN General Assembly, Convention on the Rights of the Child, November 20, 1989, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. Research topic: Children with physical and sensory disabilities: research into the implementation of legislation and policy for inclusive education. Identifying details of the researcher Purpose of the study and procedure The use of an audio recorder.
