Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Disability-Mainstreaming'

Disability Mainstreaming zielt (analog zu Gender Mainstreaming) darauf, Anliegen und Bedürfnisse der Personengruppe 'Menschen mit Behinderung' nicht allein in den für diese Gruppe offensichtlich wichtigen Bereichen anzusprechen, sondern sie in allen gesellschaftspolitischen Handlungsebenen mitzudenken und dementsprechende Forderungen umzusetzen. Dabei wird ‚Behinderung‘ vorrangig als soziale Konstruktion interpretiert, die mit der Erfahrung von Diskriminierung und Exklusion einhergeht.

Disability Mainstreaming zielt (analog zu Gender Mainstreaming) darauf, Anliegen und Bedürfnisse der Personengruppe "Menschen mit Behinderung" nicht allein in den für diese Gruppe offensichtlich wichtigen Bereichen anzusprechen, sondern sie in allen gesellschaftspolitischen Handlungsebenen mitzudenken und dementsprechende Forderungen umzusetzen. Dabei wird ‚Behinderung‘ vorrangig als soziale Konstruktion interpretiert, die mit der Erfahrung von Diskriminierung und Exklusion einhergeht.

In the autumn of 1997 it was announced that Radio 4's programmes were to be rescheduled and a commitment was given that disability would become a mainstream issue for the network. The new schedule and the mainstreaming initiative were implemented in April 1998. One of the immediate effects of rescheduling was the disappearance of Does He Take Sugar?, the network's weekly programme which presented in-depth treatment of general disability issues. By way of replacement, You and Yours, Radio 4's consumerist programme of longstanding, was given the remit to include regular coverage of disability issues in its content. It was intended that the outcome of these decisions would be that regular coverage of disability would emerge from a niche slot within the network and be positioned within the mainstream of the network's output. On the one hand, the implementation of the proposal to mainstream disability yielded the possibility of an increase in the coverage of disability issues on Radio 4 in an integrated way. On the other hand it could mean a loss of effective and focused treatment of disability issues and a qualitative shift in the nature of coverage. The proposal to mainstream disability issues on Radio 4 thus touched on central issues concerning the treatment of socially disadvantaged groups and the quest for equality. Its implementation took place at a time when the UK disability movement was growing in political power, and disabled people in Britain were becoming aware of the promise of potentially beneficial socio-cultural changes reflected by developments such as the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act CDDA 1995). This thesis examines three aspects of the introduction of the mainstreaming initiative and the early years of its implementation: a) it draws on interviews with key players, conversations with others involved, participant observation reports and documentary evidence to examine the rationale behind the mainstream initiative and, in the light of the decision to drop the network's programme which focussed on general disability issues (Does He Take Sugar?), it examines the decision to retain In Touch, the network's niche programme for blind or visually impaired listeners; b) it presents a quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis of the network's pre and post-mainstreaming treatment of disability issues. This includes analysis of ten editions of Does He Take Sugar? the disability issues covered in You and Yours during the months of September 1998, 1999, 2000 and analysis of the series No Triumph, No Tragedy. presented by a former member of the Does He Take Sugar? team in the summer of 2000.

According to critical disability studies scholars, disablism may be the fundamental system of unearned advantaging and disadvantaging upon which all other notions of difference-as-deviance are constructed. If so, a deeply critical and intersectional investigation of enabled privilege/disablism prepares a grounding from which seeds of novel and effective approaches to social and educational justice may be cultivated. Whether or not disablism holds this pivotal position, the costs to us all in terms of personal, ethical, professional, and financial losses are too steep, have always been too steep. In this disquisition I begin by arguing for the prioritizing and centering of a radical emancipatory discourse--across and within all education venues--regarding disability. In Chapter 2, I explore models of disability and notice where awareness of enabled privilege has been absent in my own experience as an educator and call for all educators to consider what might it mean if awareness of enabled privilege and the harms of disablism were at the center of our daily personal, social, and institutional lives. Chapter 3 investigates the perceptions of post-compulsory education professionals regarding what constitutes disability allyship and identifies three unique viewpoints. Chapter 4 blends conceptualizations of allyship developed within various social justice literatures with those identified viewpoints of disability allyship to yield a model professional development approach focused on an intersectional analysis for social justice through disability justice. The dissertation concludes in Chapter 5 with a discussion of core assertions and findings and points to future research priorities.
NDSU FORWARD Initiative (Funded by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Award HRD-0811239)

This thesis examines the role of international organisations in disability mainstreaming policies in Turkey. Turkey is a particularly interesting case study, as it combines traditional values coupled with ambitions to be an internationally respected European state. International organisations include the European Union, the World Bank, the International Labour Organization, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund and Organization of Islamic Cooperation. A multidisciplinary approach was taken which involved social policy, history, disability studies, international relations, and politics. The research used a case study based on analysis of 275 policy documents, 47 semi-structured and two focus group interviews. The participants have all been directly involved in decision-making processes at international and/or local level. The thesis argues that disability mainstreaming is partial and selective as a result of the interaction between the traditional values and structures in Turkey and the aims and practices of international organisations.

The aim of this study was to establish whether there is a policy community for disability sport in England. Whilst structured competitive disability sport may traditionally have been organised and run by charitable bodies, segregated from mainstream non-disabled sport, contemporary policies stress a need for disability sport to be the responsibility of mainstream organisations. However, there is a dearth of literature that considers how disability sport policy has developed, which agencies have been powerful in the organisational network, and the significance of the values of key actors in the policy process and outcome. This study; a) establishes the key characteristics of disability sport policy in England, and b) establishes the interests, resources, power and relationships between organisations involved in disability sport and determines the ideologies of key actors involved in disability sport policy. Data is generated in three phases using an analysis of policy documents, a survey of 162 sports organisations and 21 interviews with key personnel. In Phase I semi-structured interviews with key personnel combined with documentary analysis were used to establish how disability sport emerged and developed. Informed by the data from Phase 1, in Phase 2a survey of governing bodies of sport and disability sport organisations was conducted to establish which national organisations are involved in the policy network, how disability sport policy is formed, the role organisations play and ideologies of key actors. In Phase 3, informed by the data from Phases I and 2 and using interviews and documentary analysis, two case studies were carried out to examine, 1) the formation and role of the English Federation of Disability Sport, and 2) the mainstreaming of disability sport. The analysis of data is informed by theories of disability, a history of disability policy and sports policy, and three prominent theories of policy analysis: Marsha and Rhodes' policy network model, Sabatier's advocacy coalition framework and Kingdon's policy streams approach. (Continues...).

Thesis (MPhil (Rehabilitation)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Research evidence suggesting the link between disability and poverty has been increasing at an alarming rate in recent years. Despite this, there has been very little attention to ensuring representation and inclusion of people with disabilities in poverty reduction processes. However, disability movements and their partners have been increasing pressure to ensure that people with disabilities effectively participate in the development of national development plans targeting poverty reduction. The aim of this qualitative study was to analyze the extent to which the human rights-based approach can be used as an advocacy tool for mainstreaming disability in the national development processes targeting poverty reduction in Uganda. The study was conducted in Kampala and Kiboga districts, and data were gathered between August and October 2009. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were used for data collection. Eleven participants were purposively selected to participate in key informant interviews. Using these key informants, the snowballing technique was used to identify twenty people that participated in the two focus group discussions, with each having ten participants. A thematic content analysis was used to analyze data, and this involved coding and cataloguing data into emerging themes and subthemes. The study established that despite several legal frameworks in Uganda, disability mainstreaming is still far from being achieved. Translation of policies into practice was identified as a major challenge, making it difficult for people with disabilities to be meaningfully involved in poverty reduction processes. Negative attitudes and misconception of disability by both policy makers and civil society, were also seen to be contributing to the exclusion of people with disabilities in poverty reduction processes and programmes. Lack of capacity and meaningful political representation of disabled people seem to negatively impact on effective participation, monitoring and evaluation of the poverty-reduction processes in Uganda. The study recommends the need to strengthen capacity and advocacy work among people with disabilities and their promoters to ensure their effective participation and inclusion of disability in the national development agenda. It further recommends the need to adopt the human rights-based approach in any development initiative, ensuring disability mainstreaming in policies and the national development plan, in order to effectively address poverty reduction in Uganda. The researcher also challenges disability and development researchers to engage in more wider-scale studies in order to establish more evidence on the need to adopt the human rights-based approach to national development.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Navorsingsbewyse wat dui op ‟n verband tussen gestremdheid en armoede het in die afgelope jare onrusbarend toegeneem. Ten spyte hiervan is daar baie min aandag gegee om seker te maak dat gestremde mense by die armoedeverligtingsprosesse verteenwoordig en ingesluit word. Bewegings vir gestremde mense, asook dié bewegings se vennote, het egter al hoe meer druk begin uitoefen om seker te maak gestremde mense neem doeltreffend deel aan nasionale ontwikkelingsplanne wat op armoedeverligting gemik is. Die doel van hierdie kwalitatiewe studie was om te ontleed in watter mate die menseregtebenadering gebruik kan word as ‟n instrument om voorspraak te maak vir die hoofklem wat gestremdheid moet ontvang in die nasionale ontwikkelingsprosesse wat op armoedeverligting in Uganda gemik is.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka specialpedagogiska perspektiv som framträder när några grundskollärare, lärare i grundsärskolan och rektorer beskriver undervisning av integrerade grundsärskoleelever i grundskolan. Syftet utmynnar i frågeställningar som handlar om hur de tre yrkeskategorierna beskriver förberedelse, genomförande samt utvärdering av sådan undervisning. För att besvara dessa frågeställningar har kvalitativa, halvstrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med två rektorer, två grundskollärare och två lärare i grundsärskolan, med erfarenheter av integrerade grundsärskoleelever. Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i den didaktiska triangeln och resultaten har sedan analyserats utifrån tre specialpedagogiska perspektiv; det kompensatoriska perspektivet, det kritiska perspektivet och dilemmaperspektivet. Resultatet visar att informanternas beskrivningar av undervisningens planering, genomförande och utvärdering har inslag av samtliga tre specialpedagogiska perspektiv, men att det kompensatoriska perspektivet dominerar. Lärarna uppger att de i mycket liten utsträckning samarbetar med lärare i den andra skolformen kring planering och genomförande av den integrerade undervisningen. I den utvärderande fasen sker ingen samverkan alls. Grundskoleelevernas roll vid integreringen nämns inte av någon av studiens informanter. En slutsats utifrån resultatet är att rektor kan, genom en större tydlighet, bidra till en bättre samverkan kring undervisning av grundsärskoleelever i grundskolan. En annan slutsats är att specialpedagogisk personal bör se alla elever i klassen som viktiga aktörer i inkluderingsarbetet och därför rikta socialt stöd till både grundskoleelever och grundsärskoleelever.Studien synliggör hur följder av kompensatoriska arbetsformer kan påverka den integrerade undervisningens olika faser, samt vikten av rektors roll för samverkan.
The aim of this study is to examine which special educational perspectives appear, when teachers in compulsory regular school, teachers in compulsory school for pupils with intellectual disability and principals, describe mainstreaming in regular school. This aim leads to questions about how representatives of the three professions describe planning, implementation and evaluation of such teaching. In order to answer these questions qualitative, semi structured interviews have been carried through with two teachers in compulsory regular school, two teachers in compulsory school for pupils with intellectual disability and two principals, with experience of mainstreaming of pupils with intellectual disability in compulsory regular school. The theoretical framework of this study is linked to the didactic triangle and the result was analyzed on the basis of three special educational perspectives; the compensatory perspective, the critical perspective and the dilemma perspective. The result indicates that the participants’ descriptions of the instructional phases, planning, implementation and evaluation, shows elements of all three perspectives, though with a predominance of the compensatory perspective. The teachers state that they cooperate on planning and implementing instruction, to a very small extent, with teachers from the other type of school. When it comes to the evaluation phase, there is no cooperation at all. The role of the pupils in the compulsory regular school when mainstreaming is not mentioned by any of the studies participants. One conclusion from the result is that principles can, with a greater clarity, contribute to a better instructional cooperation in mainstreaming education. Another conclusion is that special education staff should regard all pupils of/in the class as important actors in inclusive education and therefore offer social support to pupils with and without intellectual disabilities.This study makes visible how consequences of compensatory practices can affect the instructional phases of mainstreaming education, and the importance of principals’ role for cooperative work.

This thesis identifies what disability resources are currently accessible and needed by the educator in order to service the disabled student in the classroom. It is a compilation of medical, academic, financial and equipment resources currently available to the educator.

A major concern facing special educators is how best to educate students with mild intellectual disability, and whether regular or special classes are appropriate. The big fish little pond effect (BFLPE) predicts that students with mild intellectual disability will have higher academic self-concepts when in a special class, whereas labeling theory predicts that placing these students in special classes will lower their self-concepts. This study addresses some of these issues by: identifying a psychometrically sound, multidimensional self-concept measurement instrument; critically examining the structure and nature of self-concepts; investigating the effects of regular and special class placement upon students’ self-concepts, social comparison processes, academic achievement, and stigmatisation; and evaluating the legitimacy of the BFLPE and labeling theory. Three studies were conducted on 211 students in years 2-6. The first study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Self Description Questionnaire I Individual Administration (SDQI-IA) and examined the structure and self-concepts of the sample, and results demonstrated that the SDQI-IA is a valid and reliable measure. The second study tested the BLFPE and labeling theory and results provided support for the BFLPE. The third study measured the self-concepts, social comparison processes and academic achievement of 39 students in different education placements, with results revealing that students moved to special classes reported higher academic achievement and more favourable social comparisons than their counterparts in regular classes
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

A major concern facing special educators is how best to educate students with mild intellectual disability, and whether regular or special classes are appropriate. The big fish little pond effect (BFLPE) predicts that students with mild intellectual disability will have higher academic self-concepts when in a special class, whereas labeling theory predicts that placing these students in special classes will lower their self-concepts. This study addresses some of these issues by: identifying a psychometrically sound, multidimensional self-concept measurement instrument; critically examining the structure and nature of self-concepts; investigating the effects of regular and special class placement upon students’ self-concepts, social comparison processes, academic achievement, and stigmatisation; and evaluating the legitimacy of the BFLPE and labeling theory. Three studies were conducted on 211 students in years 2-6. The first study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Self Description Questionnaire I Individual Administration (SDQI-IA) and examined the structure and self-concepts of the sample, and results demonstrated that the SDQI-IA is a valid and reliable measure. The second study tested the BLFPE and labeling theory and results provided support for the BFLPE. The third study measured the self-concepts, social comparison processes and academic achievement of 39 students in different education placements, with results revealing that students moved to special classes reported higher academic achievement and more favourable social comparisons than their counterparts in regular classes

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
This thesis investigated the education support services provided by occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Changes in the education policy in South Africa to an inclusive education system have major implications for the way therapists provide support. Therapists have been challenged to move from a medical model of support with a focus on highly specialised treatment for a small number of individual learners with disabilities, to a systemic and health promoting model which focuses on support for the education system, including all learners, teachers and parents. The aim of this research was to develop an appropriate and integrated approach for therapists to support schools within an inclusive and health promoting schools framework in South Africa. Participatory action research using quantitative and qualitative methodology was used. Two surveys were conducted in the Western Cape Province. The first was a survey of all therapists to determine who was working with pre-school and school-aged learners and where. The second survey was of all therapists working in special schools and a small number of private practitioners to identify the roles of the therapists in providing direct and indirect support. In two of the seven education districts in the province, focus group discussions were held with 45 teachers from special and ordinary schools, and 21 parents of school-aged learners - to identify the support they needed. Workshops, incorporating focus groups, were also held with the therapists to, firstly, identify the support they needed to give to learners, teachers, parents and the education system and, secondly, to identify the competencies they needed to give this support. The data from the surveys were subjected to simple descriptive statistical analysis. These analyses reveal that therapists have a very wide range of roles relating to direct support, including: assessment, intervention with individual learners and learners in groups, and evaluation. Interventions include the development of hearing, speech and communication skills; skills for activities of daily living; life skills; home management skills; work related skills; motor function skills; and play and leisure skills. Therapists from different disciplines frequently provide the same type of support. Indirect support provided includes support for the schools system, teachers and parents. Thirty six percent of the therapists in this study want to increase the proportion of time they spent on indirect support. The study also revealed that multidisciplinary collaboration and teamwork were Teachers involved in the study identified that they need an enormous amount of support in fulfilling their crucial roles in identifying barriers to learning; identifying the support learners need; and addressing the barriers. This includes the need for support to teach a diverse group of learners; adapting content, presentation and evaluation of the curriculum; adapting the physical environment; accepting new roles of teachers and therapists; making changes to the school system; developing relationships with the parents; addressing challenges related to socio-economic problems; networking with the community; facilitating positive attitudes to diversity; developing supportive relationships with therapists; and further training poorly developed. Teachers involved in the study identified that they need an enormous amount of support in fulfilling their crucial roles in identifying barriers to learning; identifying the support learners need; and addressing the barriers. This includes the need for support to teach a diverse group of learners; adapting content, presentation and evaluation of the curriculum; adapting the physical environment; accepting new roles of teachers and therapists; making changes to the school system; developing relationships with the parents; addressing challenges related to socio-economic problems; networking with the community; facilitating positive attitudes to diversity; developing supportive relationships with therapists; and further training. Parents in this study indicated that they need access to education and support for their children, including direct support for their children; effective means of communicating with their children; specific competencies to facilitate caring for their children; emotional support; advocates to work with them in support of their children addressing environmental physical and attitudinal barriers, and developing a supportive community; and supportive relationships with therapists.

An exploratory, qualitative research design was used to explore the role, attitude, views and competence of the community nurse to integrate children with disabilities into the community of the Mafikeng district, in the North West Province. Barriers to the integration of children with disabilities into the community as well as strategies to address these barriers were identified. Focus group discussions were conducted to collect data from the community nurses and parents of children with disabilities. Interviews were also conducted to collect data from the clinic health managers. The findings of this study reveal that the community nurse is instrumental in integrating children with disabilities into the community. However, barriers related to the family, community and health system are challenges to the integration process. The recommendations of this study deal with addressing these barriers.
Health Studies
M. A. (Health Studies)

Scholars emphasise the pivotal role that teacher perceptions play in the success of inclusive education (IE). Using Bourdieu’s (1985-1999) three conceptual tools of habitus, field and capital as a theoretical framework, this qualitative case study was designed to investigate secondary school teachers perceptions of IE – particularly with regard to the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream schools in the Maseru District of Lesotho. Data were collected using rural and urban focus-groups’ interviews. After analysing the data using categorical indexing, and discourse and comparative analysis methods, seven overriding themes emerged: teacher philosophical understanding of IE, teacher inclusion experiences and challenges, teacher classroom practices, teacher opinions about IE, key elements of IE, advantages of IE, and disadvantages of IE. Both focus groups demonstrated similar, but diverse conceptualisations of IE: as an integration movement requiring students to adapt to the school environment; as a segregation movement justifying special schools for students with severe disabilities; and as an education-for-all movement requiring that schools adapt to individual learner needs. The teachers understood that IE had social benefits for learners who could not reap its academic benefits. They used their traditional nurturing approaches to teach learners with different abilities – such as by memorisation of concepts and maximising peer interactions for the purpose of peer tutoring. However, the teachers’ insistence on corporal punishment and forcing learners to speak English in schools seemed to compromise their inclusion efforts. The study also found that despite the culturally influenced, positive and nurturing instincts of teachers in relation to supporting the education of children with disabilities, they were confronted with numerous challenges. These included: lack of knowledge and skills to effectively implement IE, lack of resources, lack of collaborative support from parents and government, and lack of incentives to boost their morale. It is recommended that teachers be equipped with theoretical knowledge of IE and with practical skills to implement it. Pre-service and in-service training was recommended in this regard. It is also recommended that all stakeholders in Lesotho secondary education bring together their resources, expertise, knowledge and enthusiasm – in an effort to make IE in Lesotho both successful and sustainable.
Inclusive Education
D. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

M.Ed.
Owing to South Africa’s changing socio-political climate post 1994, the educational environment has adapted its policies so as to mirror the nature of society, as reflected in the Constitution. Thus children with disabilities have been included into the mainstream education environment, through the introduction of policies such as The South African Schools Act of 1996 and the Education White Paper 6 of 2001. This paradigm shift within education has been further promoted through inclusion trends throughout the world, which are promoted by way of the Salamanca Statement and similar documents. Inclusive education research has primarily focused on the perceptions of the child with a disability, as well as his or her parents and teachers. Relatively little has focused on the sibling, potentially the only family member to share both the home and school environment with the child with a disability. The purpose of this research is therefore to explore the experiences of the siblings who share the mainstream education environment with a brother or sister with a disability. A qualitative research design was adopted so as to gain thick descriptions from the siblings of children with disabilities. Siblings were asked to take photographs which illustrated activities performed by them and the child with a disability. These were to act as a catalyst for conversation and form the basis of semi-structured interviews. In addition to these primary sources of data, a researcher journal also provided secondary data. Together all sources of data were combined in the constant comparative method of analysis. Through analysis, the data revealed the following: These siblings see the child with a disability for the person they are and not for the disability they experience, however they do not have the same level of acceptance for all children with disabilities. They believe that their sibling with a disability is accepted by peers within the mainstream school environment because of their positive attitude and determined effort made in integrating themselves whole-heartedly within the school environment. Despite this positive experience of their sibling with a disability, like other siblings, they have separate lives at school and thus the child with a disability is dependent upon alternative support provision. Lastly, many of the siblings lacked in-depth information regarding their brother or sister’s disability and often responded to questions with, “I don’t know.”

The aims of the research were twofold, namely, investigate challenges that hindered the implementation of inclusive education in Ethiopia and develop a framework that can enhance the inclusion of children with disabilities (CwDs). The ecology of human development has served as the theoretical lens underpinning this study to discover challenges that hindered the implementation of inclusive education. These barriers were also investigated from micro, meso, exo, and macro perspectives in the system. With this, I employed qualitative approach under the hegemony of constructivism paradigm. The hermeneutic design of the study enabled me to build knowledge about the barriers that hindered the implementation of inclusive education. Subsequently, using semi-structured interview and focus group discussion as instrument, I listened to experts in education, school supervisors, professionals in SNE and education vice heads. Thereafter, the data analysis went by transcribing the recorded interview verbatim. Then, using the transcribed and chunked data, I mapped the range and nature of phenomena, created typologies and found out associations between themes with a view to provide explanations for the findings. The process of mapping and interpretation was also guided by the original research aims as well as by the themes that have emerged from the data themselves. The participants revealed that the challenges to implement inclusive education ranged from the absence of mandatory national inclusive policy to the low income of the families of CwDs. Therefore, lack of collaboration among stakeholders of education, misconception of inclusive education, shortage of trained teachers, poor allocation of finance, poor school infrastructure and lack of mandatory inclusive policy were the few identified barriers among others. Finally, I have recommended collaborative effort among stakeholders to ensure inclusion of CwDs.
Inclusive Education
D. Phil.

In keeping with international trends in education, South Africa has embraced inclusive education as the means by which diverse learners, including those who experience barriers to learning, should be educated. Premised on the need for schools to change and become responsive to diverse learners by offering the support necessary for access and participation, inclusion is beginning to be realised in South African schools. Independent schools comprise a small but significant sector in South African education, and, despite not having access to state resources, are implementing inclusive education. This study investigates the schools belonging to the oldest and largest independent schools' association, the Independent Schools' Association of Southern Africa (ISASA) to establish the extent to which learners who experience barriers to learning are included in ISASA schools and the practices that facilitate their inclusion. Data gathered from a self-administered questionnaire completed by principals of ISASA schools reveals that the majority of ISASA schools include at least some learners who experience intrinsic or extrinsic barriers to learning. The most common intrinsic barriers are AD(H)D and learning disability and the most common extrinsic barriers are family problems and language barriers. Support for these learners is provided at school-wide and classroom level through the implementation of various inclusive practices that have been described in the international literature on inclusion and in local policy and guideline documents. These include developing policies that guide the support of learners who experience barriers to learning; ensuring that personnel are available to provide appropriate support; harnessing support for learners, their parents and teachers both from within the school and from the wider community; ensuring wheelchair access and employing classroom and other strategies that facilitate access and participation. ISASA schools differ in the extent to which they are inclusive. A few are not inclusive at all, but most are showing progress and commitment to inclusion. In so doing, these schools are implementing ISASA's Diversity and Equity Policy that requires member schools to be inclusive of learners who experience barriers to learning wherever this is feasible educationally, and also realising Constitutional values of equality, dignity and freedom of discrimination.
Educational Studies
D. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

The main aim of this study was to assess teachers’ awareness levels of dyslexia, their perceptions of their ability to identify and manage dyslexia, and their perceptions of the adequacy of their pre-service and in-service training in dyslexia. The sample comprised teachers at 16 mainstream high schools in the Western Cape. A Likert type scale questionnaire was used to collect data that were analysed by means of a sign test of difference and a Kruskal-Wallis test of variance. The results indicated that teachers had adequate knowledge of dyslexia, believed they are able to identify and manage dyslexia, and believed that they received little or no pre-service and in-service training in dyslexia. The main conclusion that can be drawn is that teachers need on-going adequate pre-service and in-service training in the field of dyslexia.
Department of Psychology
M.A. (Psychology)

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)
In South Africa today, inclusive education, as it relates to the inclusion of a child with a disability in a main steam classroom, is practised increasingly. Effective inclusion requires both collaboration between and mutual support for all the role players involved. The South African Schools Act of 1996 and the Education White Paper 6 of 2001 recognise parents' right to choose an appropriate school for their child in the local community. The White Paper 6 provides the framework for developing an inclusive education and training system and recognises the important role that parents play in developing inclusive schools and practices. Parents can play an important part not only in the success with which their child is included but also in the determination of the social validity of inclusive education in the South African context. It is therefore important to consult with parents as potential partners and to acknowledge their perceptions on inclusive education for their children. This is necessary in order to inform the theory and establishment of inclusive schools and to further enhance parent-school partnerships. Research on inclusive education in South Africa has mainly focused on the attitudes and perceptions of teachers and relatively little research has been done on parents' perceptions of including a child with a disability in a mainstream school. The purpose of this research investigation i.? therefore to contribute to the . knowledge base that could promote parent-school partnerships in an inclusive education system. The inquiry into the perceptions of parents of a child with a disability in a mainstream school demanded the use of a basic interpretive qualitative study. This approach was chosen primarily due to the fact that the study was aimed at gaining an in-depth understanding of parents' perceptions. Eleven 'information rich cases' were purposefully selected for focus group interviews and a semistructured individual interview, and these formed the primary sources of data. Secondary sources of data included participant observation and field notes as well as the use of a document, in the form of a biographical questionnaire.

The study sought to investigate educators’ perceptions of the implementation of Inclusive Education in mainstream secondary schools around Polokwane, Limpopo Province of South Africa. The approach to the study was qualitative, guided by an interpretivist paradigm. A purposefully selected sample of 20 teachers from 10 purposively selected mainstream secondary schools in Polokwane participated in this study. Instruments for data collection comprised in-depth interviews, corroborated by non-participant field observations to verify the implementation of Inclusive Education in mainstream secondary schools. Content analysis was employed to analyse the data with the aim of coming up with themes and subthemes. The study revealed that the educators had the passion and willingness to implement Inclusive Education. The educators further perceived Inclusive Education as needful. The implementation of Inclusive Education was perceived as being effective to a lesser extent. The educators perceived the implementation of Inclusive Education as being negatively affected by their inadequate training, school environments which were unfit to accommodate learners with disabilities, the lack of facilities and equipment and higher learner enrolments in mainstream classrooms. Gender was seen to affect the educators’ confidence in handling learners with disabilities and their ability to identify such learners. The study recommends the continued professional development and training of educators in the area of Inclusive Education, regular support and monitoring of Inclusive Education activities in mainstream schools by the DBE, provision of relevant resources and facilities in mainstream schools for the implementation of Inclusive Education, and additional support to educators to enhance their confidence in handling learners with barriers to learning and development. Finally, a model for the improvement of the implementation of Inclusive Education in mainstream schools is proposed.
Inclusive Education
D. Ed. (Inclusive Education)