An interpretivist account of the factors that facilitate and constrain the translation of inclusive education theory, legislation and policy into practice

Abstract

Inclusive education started off as an international movement through the Salamanca Statement, the Dakar Framework, and the World Declaration on Education for all policies and frameworks. Following the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa followed the rest of the world in an initiative towards a more inclusive and equitable society centred on human rights ideals. It was the White Paper 6 policy, the South African Constitution, and the South African Schools Act that followed the initiative towards a more inclusive society. These policies provided frameworks and guidelines for achieving inclusive education in South Africa. The implementation of inclusive schooling in South Africa has resulted in considerable demands that necessitate systemic modifications and adaptation to fully fill the requirement for an inclusive education framework. There were continuous changes in policies, legislation, frameworks, and curricula. However, in spite of all the legislation and policy developments that were drafted to achieve inclusive education in South Africa, there have been challenges in translating them into practice. Hence, the drafting and changes have subjected inclusive education educators to the challenges of fully implementing inclusive education practices. Ultimately, there are several theories on inclusive education, for example, constructivism theory, sociocultural theory, and inclusive pedagogy theory; nevertheless, it is unclear if the theories are translating into teaching practices. Thus, this study explores the translation of inclusive education theory, legislation, and policy into practice through the experiences of in-service educators who have received inclusive education training at the postgraduate level. This dissertation used a qualitative approach. A snowball sampling method was used to select 11 in-service educators for this study. This study made use of part-time postgraduate inclusive education students who are currently enrolled and who have been enrolled at a higher educational institution. Multiple semi-structured interviews were employed to gather data from the research participants, and a thematic analysis method was employed to analyse the data. The data collection for this study was two-phased. In addition, this study used critical pedagogy and inclusive pedagogy combined to create a theoretical framework to understand how in-service educators make use of their theoretical knowledge in their pedagogical practices. Critical pedagogy and inclusive pedagogy assisted the research in framing how pedagogical practices should be and what constitutes them; therefore, critical 2 pedagogy and inclusive pedagogy assisted this research in understanding how educators’ theoretical knowledge is translated into practice. This study adds to our understanding of how in-service educators are translating their knowledge of inclusive education theory, legislation, and policy into practice. The results of this undertaking have confirmed that there are challenges in translating inclusive education theories, legislation, and policy into practice due to a lack of support, large class sizes, curriculum concerns, a lack of resources, financial constraints, and the theory not taking South African context into consideration. Many research participants cited that they are conscious and knowledgeable about inclusive education; however, macrostructures made it a challenge to implement. Therefore, there is a need for access to support systems from the school and macrostructures. Also, policies and theories need to be more realistic to implement within South African classrooms.