Investigating the psycho-social challenges of Implementing Inclusive Education among Learning Support Teachers at Metropole East Education District, Western Cape
Date
2023
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
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.
Description
A dissertation submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education, to the Wits School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023.
Keywords
Psychosocial challenges, Mental health, Learning support teachers, Inclusive education implementation, Primary schools, UCTD
Citation
Khoboko, Nkepeng Esther. (2023). Investigating the psycho-social challenges of Implementing Inclusive Education among Learning Support Teachers at Metropole East Education District, Western Cape. [Master's dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WIReDSpace. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/40700