Abstract:
Recent legislation in South Africa has changed education considerably,
particularly in the move towards inclusive education. Previous educational provision in
South Africa, as in many countries, assigned many learners with learning difficulties to
segregated settings. Such placements tended to be based on the psycho-medical,
intelligence-testing model of identifying learning difficulties. Much research has queried
the effectiveness of this approach. However, as no alternative model has been researched,
it was decided to research the effectiveness of using an ecosystemic approach in
conjunction with a collaborative consultancy model as a method for identifying learning
needs in high school learners in a South African public secondary school.
Various methods of qualitative data collection were used during the intervention, and
comparative analysis was employed to analyse the data. The findings of this study
suggest that an ecosystemic approach used together with a collaborative consultancy
approach to identify and understand learning diversity is a viable process in inclusive
education contexts. However, it is acknowledged that a considerable body of research
needs to be achieved before this finding can be considered conclusive. In addition, certain
constraints to using this approach were acknowledged, and these include the time,
expertise and money needed to facilitate the process successfully.
