Wits School of Education (ETDs)

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Browsing Wits School of Education (ETDs) by Department "Department of Inclusion Education"

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    Conceptualisation of Inclusive Education: Impact on primary school principals and Foundation Phase teachers
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-09) Dewa, Nokuthula Ntombiyelizwe; Bekker, Tanya
    This study investigated how the conceptualisations of Inclusive Education (IE) by primary school principals and Foundation Phase teachers impact teaching practices. The study places a high value on participants' IE conceptualisations because they have an impact on teachers' actions in their classrooms, which can either support or limit teachers' inclusive practices in granting epistemic access to learning to all learners. The study addressed the question of how primary school principals and Foundation Phase teachers conceptualise IE and considered the implications of these conceptualisations on their practice. Conceptualisations inform pedagogical practice, and I argue that a pedagogical shift that takes accountability for providing learning opportunities for all learners regardless of difference is necessary. A qualitative transformational research method was used to collect data, and thirteen Foundation Phase (FP) teachers and three school principals were conveniently and purposefully chosen from three Government primary schools, in Johannesburg South. Individual semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews were used to collect data, which was then thematically analysed using both inductive and deductive methods. With some extensions and adjustments, two theoretical frameworks were used for this study: the Inclusive Pedagogical Approach (IPA) and Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory. Although Black-Hawkins (2017) argues for three required inclusive pedagogical shifts for teachers to teach inclusively, this study’s findings reveal that teachers in South Africa are currently at three different levels of development toward the required pedagogical shift, which is why IE implementation is hampered despite the numerous IE issues raised by previous studies. According to the findings of this study, there are teachers who have little to no pedagogical shift toward inclusive practices, teachers who have an emerging shift, and teachers who have an established shift. These stages of the pedagogical shift are supported by various conceptualisations that influence teachers' actions, leading to a variety of teaching strategies, some of which do not involve all learners in teaching and learning. The study recommended that the actual stage of shift be considered to support continued progress toward inclusive practice. Teachers who have made little or no pedagogical shift toward inclusivity should be made aware of IE policies and practices, while those who have made an emerging pedagogical shift should be encouraged and assisted in including everyone in their teaching and learning, and those who have made an established pedagogical shift should be developed further in maintaining and improving inclusive practices.
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    Investigating the psycho-social challenges of Implementing Inclusive Education among Learning Support Teachers at Metropole East Education District, Western Cape
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Khoboko, Nkepeng Esther; Charamba, Erasmos; Aloka, Peter
    The Implementation of inclusive education in schools is yet to reach expected levels in South African schools. Previous research has focused on teachers but very scanty research has been done among learning support teachers. This study examined psychological and social challenges of implementing inclusive education among South African learning support teachers. The following research questions were addressed in this study: (a) What are the psychological challenges of implementing inclusive education among learning support teachers? (b) What are the social challenges of implementing inclusive education among learning support teachers? (c) What kind of support do learning support teachers require to successfully implement inclusive education? The study adopted a qualitative approach and a multiple case study of five primary schools in the Metropole East Education District, Western Cape, was conducted. Through semi-structured interviews, data from ten participants was gathered. The five criteria of credibility, dependability, confirmability, transferability and authenticity were used to assure the trustworthiness of qualitative data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The study found that learning support teachers are psychologically and socially challenged when they have to implement inclusive education. The learning support teachers did get some support from the district officials but this was not sufficient to make them fully implement inclusive education in schools. Teachers expressed their deep concern about the lack of parental involvement, as it makes the SIAS policy referral process challenging. Moreover, teachers expressed that they were stressed out and burned out as a result of a variety of events that made their job to be stressful. The study concludes that the learning support teachers’ psychosocial challenges when implementing inclusive education remains a major concern for teachers in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Although the education department has implemented a number of strategies to help manage the psychosocial challenges of teachers, these methods mostly focus on the learners, leaving teachers with ongoing social and mental health issues. The study recommends that social workers, psychologists, and therapists should be stationed in schools, or alternatively, ordinary mainstream schools should be transformed into full-service schools.