The purpose of the survey was to establish the SMT's understanding of inclusive education and to establish what they consider to be important to ensure that their schools are inclusive. The results from the survey indicate that SMT had a very limited and often distorted understanding of the policy for inclusive education.
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
- INTRODUCTION
- FOCUS OF THE STUDY
- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
- PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
- RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
- SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
- LIMITATIONS
- ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
- ARRANGEMENT OF CHAPTERS This dissertation is divided into five chapters
The researcher's view is that the creation of meaningful and accountable support structures for all students rests on the shoulders of SMT. The purpose of the study is described, the theoretical frameworks are highlighted and the research process is presented.
LITERATURE REVIEW
INTRODUCTION
POLICY DEVELOPMENTS LEADING TO THE ADOPTION OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
- INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
- BARRIERS TO LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
The majority of schools in the province have students who do not speak English and that is where English becomes a language and communication barrier. The restructuring of the education system has been a major challenge for teachers, especially in the area of curriculum development.
DEFINITION OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
This concept of inclusive education has been ambiguous for many people in terms of the way it was interpreted. The policy of inclusive education is one of those developed with the intention of transforming the educational offer. In its broadest and most inclusive sense, inclusive education is an approach that seeks to meet the learning needs of all learners, young and old, including those vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion (DoE, 2001).
The three different types of schools introduced by the inclusive education system are discussed below. This is because inclusive education is about the participation of ALL children and young people and the elimination of all forms of exclusionary practices (Winkler, Modise & Dawber, 2004).
IMPLEMENTATION OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA
One of the commitments of the new democratic government after the end of the apartheid era was the transformation of education and policies which are key to emphasizing the principle of education as a basic human right as enshrined in the constitution of the country. The very important one in the implementation of inclusive education is the move from the conceptualization of special needs within an individual deficit approach to needs, to a human rights approach within the social context in which life is lived (Engelbrecht, 2006). The multifaceted societal changes, which include education reforms and contextual changes, including the management of diversity in schools, have had a negative impact on the implementation of inclusive education (Engelbrecht, 2004).
Increasing recognition and acceptance of the basic rights of all South African children to be included in inclusive school communities therefore remains a challenge. In South Africa, the above movement has also been supported by a number of policies and legislation leading to the Inclusive Education Policy (DoE, 2001), which emphasizes addressing and minimizing barriers to learning and development.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SMT IN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
- General administrative role
- Personnel
- Teaching
- Interaction with stakeholders
- Communication
There are specific responsibilities of the SMT members prescribed in the NEPA, DoE, (1998b) document. The professional management of the school and the process of providing good instructions and guidelines is a joint responsibility of the SMT. It is the responsibility of the SMT to ensure professional leadership within the school by guiding, guiding and advising on the work performance of all school employees.
Curriculum delivery has different levels of plan and it is the SMT's responsibility to support other members of staff in ensuring the educational wellbeing of pupils in the department. The main task of the maintenance course is to communicate in writing with staff members, departments, districts, district offices and other interested parties.
THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS
Given the responsibility of the maintenance course, it is vital that they communicate a plan to support involvement in school development. In order for schools to create an inclusive learning environment, effective leadership is one of the critical aspects. Huitt (2009) identifies the immediate level of ecology or context of human development as having the earliest influence in a child's life.
The microsystem is a child's immediate system in terms of the influence and influence of family, peers, religion, neighborhood, and school. The school as a system that is professionally managed by the school management team must be able to take into account the issues that hinder the development of the school system.
CONCLUSION
32 Children can participate productively in an inclusive democratic society, but the education system is unable to provide them with the opportunity to do so because the school system does not have the capacity to provide relevant resources and support. Staff involvement in shared decision-making as a strategy to cope with the rapid pace of change is becoming irresistible to many school leaders (Hayes, 2009).
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
- INTRODUCTION
- RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY .1 Research design
- Research Methodology
- RESEARCH SITE / FIELD
- Dadada Primary School
- RESEARCH METHODS
- ANALYSIS OF DATA
- DATA TRUSTWORTHINESS
- ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
- LIMITATIONS
- CONCLUSION
The researcher was also interested in direct contact with the participants in order to obtain the meanings of the phenomenon. Data analysis is one of the key phases that requires the researcher to be able to capture and understand data in written form. Since the study was interpretive in nature, the themes were aligned with the research questions and the participants' responses to the researcher.
Participants had the opportunity to review the researcher's interpretation of the data (Henning, 2005), which assisted in establishing reliability and credibility. With this in mind, the researcher made sure that neutrality was included in the process of the research study at all costs.
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
INTRODUCTION
Discussion of results
- SMT’s understanding of IE
- SMT’s critical considerations
- Challenges faced by SMT in developing an inclusive school
There are few things they indicated that support their understanding of IP being shared with other members of the workforce. It is also important to note that the SMT takes note of the fact that they may also have other disabilities, such as a physical, and not just a mental disability. It is important that we get close to these students so that they can trust us and talk to us.
It is obvious that the educational center (and the school in general) is committed to creating an inclusive school environment, although it feels that it is not equipped enough, but it is trying its best. It is difficult because there are many of these students with disabilities and you also have to monitor. It is also clear that the cascading model of information acquisition does not work for them because it does not empower them enough to face the students' examples.
It is also clear that these educators are aware of the fact that if they can be given assistant teachers in the school, it will go a long way.
GENERAL DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Staffing should consider the appointment of teacher assistants so that teachers can work with them in mitigating and minimizing barriers to learning and development. It is also important to ensure that SMT members are more capable so that they can continuously support and develop their subordinates at school level. They work well so that they can support all students as it is their basic human right to access quality education as stated by Engelbrecht (2006) in the literature (see 2.4).
The SMT members also highlight the workload they are given as a huge challenge, which means that they cannot monitor the work of the other educators so that they are able to plan support. According to the literature, Forlin (2004) mentioned that teaching assistants should be responsible for assisting teachers so that teaching focuses on meeting students' needs (cf. 2.3).
CONCLUSION
The SMT cited the issue of time limits as a major factor preventing them from being able to support all of these students for so many reasons. This is also due to the fact that some parents also do not respond positively and resist working with educators to help their children overcome their challenges so that they can achieve something. 68 so that barriers to learning and development are minimized, ensuring that the school is inclusive.
The culture and ethos of this school is such that there are many good practices or pockets of excellence that one can identify, but all that is not considered important in the sense that educators feel it is not enough. It is very obvious that this school can be developed and become an inclusive school if it can be really well supported and monitored so that all the critical considerations to ensure that the school is inclusive are mainstreamed and incorporated into the daily practices become
RECOMMENDATIONS AND FINAL CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of the study was achieved; the participants' responses answered the three research questions the study was intended to answer.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY
The second main finding is that SMT members are aware of what an inclusive school should look like, but they do not believe that they can also be an inclusive school like a regular school. Because they do not understand IE, they did not mention the critical and important considerations that they themselves can promote to make their school inclusive. The important considerations that they identified as things that the department should provide them with were believed to be the things that could make their school grow.
The third major finding was based on the fact that the school is quite aware of the challenges they face. According to these participants, they need the department to help and support them so that they minimize these challenges.
FINAL CONCLUSION
72 that they have an ILST, that is a structure led by them as SMT, which meets regularly to discuss the cases of these students with the aim of mutual support and preparation of intervention strategies. The findings of this study show that schools are aware of their responsibility in ensuring the development of inclusive schools by being aware of the important things they need to achieve this goal. They have reacted in a way that suggests they are so helpless and have tried their best but still fail.
Therefore, they did not have strategies in place to mitigate the challenges they face as they even mention that there is not enough time for them to support these students and they would like the department to provide them with teaching assistants. . The researcher proved that they do many things in trying to address the challenges but maybe they (SMT) wanted the department to intervene.
LIST OF REFERENCES
This is very important if we want to realize the idea of Education for All. Quality Education for All: Report of the National Commission for Special Needs in Education and Training (NCSNET) and the National Commission for Educational Support Services (NCSESS). Towards inclusive education and training: developing the South African system for the challenges of change.
The complexity of educational policy dissemination in the South African context: A case study of teachers' experiences of inclusive education in selected schools in greater Durban. Salamanca, five years on: an overview of UNESCO's activities in the light of the Salamanca declaration and framework for action.
