An examination of school feeding programmes as inclusive strategies
Date
2016-07-25
Authors
Nsibande, Sibili Precious
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Abstract
In an attempt to promote inclusive education, many schools have put strategies in place
to ensure that all children access and participate in learning. An inclusive strategy is
defined as a practice or something that people do to give meaning to the concept of
inclusion (Florian, 2011). Inclusive strategies therefore are about practices that give all
children equal opportunities to participate in quality learning by ensuring that barriers to
learning and participation are removed. Hunger has been identified as one of the barriers
to learning, especially in developing countries (Potterton & Dawjee, 2004) and many
schools have introduced school feeding programmes as a strategy to promote education
for all children. In this qualitative study, grounded in the interpretive paradigm, the
views of principals and teachers are explored to establish how school feeding
programmes operate or fail to operate as inclusive strategies in schools. Through the use
of semi-structured interviews, the study revealed that although school feeding
programmes were viewed as mechanisms that operate as inclusive strategies, there were
multiple concerns pertaining to the programmes. The principals’ and teachers’ views
revealed that while their school feeding programme promoted the academic and general
success of all learners, it also inhibited the academic and general success of some
children by promoting the stigmatization of children from low-socio economic
backgrounds. The study also revealed major concerns in the administration of the school
feeding programmes. With reference to the participants’ views on school feeding
programmes, it can be contended that while school feeding programmes serve as
inclusive strategies for all children in schools, they also have multiple constraints that
could to be addressed as an attempt to improve their effectiveness.
Description
A research project submitted to the WITS School of Education, Faculty of Humanities,
University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of Master of Education by combination of coursework and research
Johannesburg, 2016
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Citation
Nsibande, Sibili Precious (2016) An examination of school feeding programmes as inclusive strategies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539>