Addressing barriers to implementing inclusive education in the Pacific

ABSTRACT

Countries of the Pacific region are currently undergoing significant reforms. While disability inclusive education has been identified as a regional priority by all member nations, implementing inclusive education in the countries of the region can be quite challenging as many barriers continue to hamper the progress of the countries. Unless the barriers are identified and systematically addressed, it is unlikely that the countries will be able to implement a robust and holistic inclusive education strategy. In this paper, we present possible ways in which the countries of the Pacific could make significant progress in implementing a sustainable inclusive education strategy. We used a collaborative approach of co-examining potential barriers that are likely to impede the growth of countries in implementing a comprehensive inclusive education plan of action. We then identified possible strategies that are likely to result in an improved and perhaps more culturally responsive implementation of inclusive education in the Pacific. The most significant barriers identified by the members included: inadequate teacher preparation, stigma and negative attitudes towards people with disabilities, and limited engagement with the local leaders and key stakeholders. Possible strategies for addressing the barriers are outlined and discussed with possible implications for local, regional, and international researchers and policy makers.     

The role of inter-professional collaboration in developing inclusive education: experiences of teachers and occupational therapists in Slovenia

This was the first qualitative study of the inclusion of children with special needs into regular schools in Slovenia that focused on inter-professional collaboration and its contributions to the inclusion process. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with primary school teachers (N?=?36) and occupational therapists (N?=?9) to explore their personal experiences. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis (Strauss, A., and J. Corbin. 1998. Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage). Two categories pertaining to inter-professional collaboration emerged from the analysis. They described different barriers and strategies that either inhibited or facilitated the cooperation process. The experiences of teachers and occupational therapists differed; however, both professional groups expressed frustration with organisational and systemic factors that often prevented better exchange of knowledge and information. Due to the organisation of work and financial issues, occupational therapists had limited access to the school environment; therefore, they generally showed more eagerness to increase the level of collaboration and their presence at the school. The study also pointed out how the roles of certain professionals are not recognised, suggesting the need for more promotional work. If inclusion in Slovenia is to be fully implemented, collaboration between different professionals working with children with special needs must strengthen. This will require some significant organisational, cultural and also personal transformations.     

Making the grade: teacher training for inclusive education: A systematic review

The role of teacher training, as it pertains to the adoption of inclusive education (IE) (European Journal of Special, 22, 2007, 367), is critical in realizing and achieving truly IE environments. Literature often reports poor or inadequate training with regard to IE practices (Preparing Teachers of the Deaf for a Complex, Jacksonville, FL). The purpose of this review was to examine North American and Australian research regarding teacher training for students with disabilities (SWD) with the goal of informing best practice. Of the 27 reviewed studies, teacher training interventions reported positive outcomes and showed improvements in the areas of teachers’ attitudes/perceptions, knowledge, and strategies/skill development (Teacher Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, 32, 2009, 166) regarding IE SWD. The researchers cautiously recommend the employment of workshop style approaches as they appear to have the capacity to tackle all three outcome variables concurrently and within the shortest timeframe. Our restrained recommendations for best practice are born out of the quality of evidence presented within the reviewed studies.     

Inclusive education in Bosnia and Herzegovina

This paper describes the different challenges faced by all members of the local community who are directly or indirectly responsible for the educational reform regarding the process of inclusion in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yugoslavia education system is regulated in canton legislature. Each canton has its own law on preschool, elementary school, high school and university education, with more than 30 laws covering the area of education. General and special education are separately regulated, thus violating the rights of children with special needs to be educated in the mainstream schools closest to their home. Negative attitudes, prejudices and stereotypes, educational standards non supportive for the inclusive education, lack of engagement of university facilities and negligence of scientifically based research are also considered in this study.     

Faculty training: an unavoidable requirement for approaching more inclusive university classrooms

Adequate policies for faculty training in diversity continue to be pending on the agendas of many universities. This paper presents the recommendations of 44 university students with disabilities not only for adequate faculty training, but also on informing them on both matters of the disability itself and how to respond to the needs derived from it. The data analyzed come from research funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competiveness ‘University Barriers and Aids Identified by Students with Disabilities’, which has been underway since 2011. A biographical-narrative methodology was used. The university life histories of the students were compiled by making use of in-depth interviews, lifelines and photographs. The conclusions of the study discuss the main results along with other previous studies, and recommendations are made so universities can provide training plans leading to inclusive education and learning.     

Confucian philosophy and contemporary Chinese societal attitudes toward people with disabilities and inclusive education

This article focuses on the Chinese traditional culture, specifically Confucian philosophy, and analyses four core concepts of Confucianism which include ‘ren’ (Benevolence), ‘Jun zi’ (Superior man), ‘Tian ming’ (heaven’s mandate), and ‘Xiao ti’ (Filial piety and fraternal love). Based on these core concepts, this study explores how social attitudes in China (and among Chinese people living in other countries) toward people with disabilities are formed and influenced by Confucian philosophy, and how they impact the education of people with disabilities. It suggests that the related social attitudes of sympathy, rights awareness, and criteria of success, especially school performance in this case, can have both positive and negative impacts on inclusive education for children with disabilities. Strategies are suggested for encouraging attitude change, when appropriate, in order to facilitate special education and inclusion and how to do so in a manner that is culturally respectful of the core beliefs based on Confucianism.     

The idealism of education policies and the realities in schools: the implementation of inclusive education in South Africa

Inclusive education as a global movement emerged over the past 30 years to ensure quality mainstream education for all learners. Since 1994 the newly democratic South Africa also had expectations as well as the political will to change education by adjusting legislation and policies. However, the vision of a truly inclusive education system in South Africa has been difficult to achieve and results regarding the implementation of inclusive education remain questionable. There has been a growing realisation that the advent of democracy was not in itself a sufficient condition for the elimination of historical and structural inequalities in education with as recurring theme the dissonance between the government's socio-political imperative for change and economic realities. This article focuses on the development of policy and guidelines on inclusive education in dynamic interaction with the complexity of realities in South African schools with a special focus on the policy recommendations regarding the development of full-service schools. The constant comparative analysis of the two phased case study of a full-service school in a rural town revealed interesting results illustrating the complexities regarding the implementation of inclusive education and the challenges and opportunities in bridging the gap between the idealism of policies and the realities in schools.     

Preparing teachers for inclusive education: using inclusive pedagogy to enhance teaching and learning for all

As the concept of ‘inclusive education’ has gained currency, students who would previously have been referred to specialist forms of provision, having been judged ‘less able’, are now believed to belong in mainstream classrooms. However, it is often argued that teachers lack the necessary knowledge and skills to work with such students in inclusive classrooms. This paper reports findings of a study of a new initial teacher education course that starts from the premise that the question is not whether teachers have the necessary knowledge and skills to teach in inclusive classrooms, but how to make best use of what they already know when learners experience difficulty. The theoretical rationale for the development of the course is outlined and examples of how teachers might engage in more inclusive practice are presented.     

Expanding opportunities to learn to support inclusive education through drama‐enhanced literacy practices

This study examines how the Early Years Educators at Play (EYEPlay) professional development (PD) programme supported inclusive learning settings for all children, including English language learners and students with disabilities. The EYEPlay PD model is a year‐long programme that integrates drama strategies into literacy practices within real‐classroom contexts. Inclusive education refers to ensuring equal opportunities to access and participation in learning activities for all students. Cultural‐historical activity theory was used to understand and unpack the drama practices. Twelve semi‐structured focus group interviews were conducted with 19 preschool teachers. The data were analysed via constant‐comparative and interpretive methods. The study findings showed that EYEPlay PD practices enhanced inclusive learning settings for diverse groups of students by increasing access and expanding opportunities to learn, and supporting a positive learning environment.     

A commentary on the social responsibility of occupational therapy education

As one of the allied health professions, occupational therapy has adopted a primarily clinical focus on human occupation (or the process of daily life) and this is reflected in education, which has until recently tended to overlook contextual social factors such as poverty, marginalisation, exclusion, unemployment, incarceration and immigration. However, daily life is enabled, and potentially dis-abled, along the axes of several cultural and political constructs, such as gender, employment status and ethnicity.

This article presents a critical commentary of the social responsibility of occupational therapy education. Furthermore, it discusses the need for educational practices that can enact an integration of personal and professional perspectives so as to lead to a more holistic understanding of occupation, incorporating not only clinical but also social and political factors.

This article argues for the development of a political approach to occupational therapy education that can lead to an awareness of the cultural influences that they bring to their workplace, and a critical consideration of concepts such as ‘justice’ and ‘occupation’. The development of a political practice of occupational therapy calls for an appreciation of the diversity of human occupation and the circumstances that enable it and can be realised through the establishment of innovative educational partnerships, such as community–university collaborations.     

An assessment framework for inclusive education: integrating assessment approaches

Teachers committed to inclusive education have the potential to revolutionise pedagogical and assessment practices within regular classrooms simply because students with high needs challenge traditional assumptions about what it means ‘to learn’ and ‘to assess’. This creates opportunities for teachers to find creative ways to ascertain what and how a child learns, and how these assessment results can be communicated to the child, parents, the school and funding bodies to enable further learning. This paper explores diverse assessment practices including criterion-based, normative, ipsative and self-assessment, with both formative and summative functions, reported as being used by teachers in New Zealand who teach students with high needs. These multiple approaches can be integrated into learning stories to ‘narrate’ student learning. An assessment framework is introduced to support teachers to appreciate the functionality of an integrated assessment approach to document student learning and outcomes, arguably a framework applicable for all learners.     

Assessing the needs of training on inclusive education for public school administrators

This study assessed the needs of urban school leaders for special education preparation in a large public school district in the USA in order to assist the school administrators with improving their knowledge and skills for providing appropriate services to students with disabilities and their families to support inclusive education. The needs survey was created based on the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC 2009) standards for school administrators in the USA and the literature in special education. The validity and reliability of the instrument were verified. The needs assessment measures 10 aspects regarding special education knowledge and skills as indicated by 10 factors in the exploratory factor analysis. Quantitative data analyses on a sample of 289 participants revealed that there were significant differences in the needs of training in special education knowledge based on the school administrators’ backgrounds. The current research supports the call for the professional development and inclusive education for school leaders. The findings of the current study indicated that school leaders wanted the knowledge to make them more successful in serving students with disabilities to answer the call for inclusive education.     

Collaborating with children in exploring marginalisation: an approach to inclusive education

This article focuses on the importance of engaging with children's voices in school settings in order to understand and deal with marginalisation. Engaging with the views of children and young people is an essential part of the process of developing inclusion. It can be viewed as an approach to inclusive education, which predominantly places emphasis on the views of the learners rather than on other organisational aspects within a school context. The study reported here is from a collaborative piece of research in one primary school classroom where practitioners, children and the researcher worked together in order to identify areas of concern within the particular context, in order to address marginalisation. The benefits, as well as the complexities of engaging in such processes are discussed. Furthermore, the study has led to the development of a framework for promoting inclusion that is presented here. The framework can be used to guide a systematic way of collecting evidence that will facilitate the process of understanding and dealing with marginalisation, and promoting inclusion, that can be incorporated into the daily work of practitioners.     

Attitudes of preschool and primary school pre-service teachers towards inclusive education

Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion are important as they have the primary responsibility of implementing inclusive education. Attitudes at the beginning of teaching careers are likely to predict future attitudes. Some studies show a drop in attitudes after leaving university education. Using the Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Inclusion (Amended) questionnaire, 465 pre-service teachers (located in Victoria, Australia) from primary school and preschool streams were examined to determine the effect of a number of independent factors on Total Inclusion Score; a measure of attitudes towards inclusion. Two-way ANOVAs revealed module (unit) and year of study to be significant factors. A multiple regression showed the factors combined accounted for 10% of the variance in Total Inclusion Score. Participants who had studied a module (unit) on inclusive education or were in later years of study were more positive towards inclusive education based on Total Inclusion Score from the questionnaire. No significant differences for Total Inclusion Score were found between pre-service teachers that study primary school teaching or preschool teaching. It is concluded that studying a module on inclusive education is a particularly important factor in the development of pre-service teacher attitudes towards inclusion.     

Belonging to higher education: inclusive education for students with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

The college experience in Iceland has traditionally been reserved for those who have passed the matriculation examination and meet the admission requirements of higher educational institutions. Since 2007, the University of Iceland has offered a Vocational Diploma Programme for people with intellectual disabilities in inclusive settings. The purpose of this article is to describe the diploma programme as well as exploring students’ sense of belonging to the college community. The diploma programme is located at the School of Education and students trained to work at pre-primary schools, after school clubs and within the field of disability such as self-advocacy. Inclusion has been achievable by adapting the general curriculum and learning outcomes to individual needs, flexible teaching methods and the cooperation between academic faculty members, programme coordinators, student mentors and the diploma students themselves. The diploma students receive academic and social support from student mentors who are other undergraduate students at the School of Education. The collaboration with student mentors has proven to be valuable, expanded diploma students’ social networks and contributed to a sense of belonging. Regardless of various attitudinal and structural hindrances, there is much evidence that the diploma students are not only tolerated but welcomed at the School of Education and belong to the college community.     

Creating a dialogic environment for transformative science teaching practices: towards an inclusive education for science

Abstract

This paper focuses on the design and application of a teacher training strategy to promote the inclusive education of students with disabilities in the science classroom, through the creation of adult learning environments grounded on the principles of dialogic learning. Participants of the workshop proposal consisted of a group of twelve teachers who were working at various educational levels. Teacher teams proposed and implemented in their classroom, innovative, inclusive science-learning activities about a topic of their choice. Data were collected from interviews with teachers five months after the courses, teachers’ portfolios about their practice during implementation of such sequences, and researchers’ observations. The data suggest that it is possible to stimulate a gradual transformation of teaching practices through a teacher training proposal that promotes self-awareness and critical reflection, situated in the creation of meaning and a willingness to change in the spirit of solidarity and social action. We found elements to recommend the incorporation of these innovations at the curricular and practical level for teacher training schools and for in-service teacher development programmes in Mexico and elsewhere.     

Teaching inclusive religious education impartially: an English perspective

The article draws on experience of teaching, teacher education and qualitative research related to an impartial approach to inclusive religious education (including pupils from families who identify with or do not identify with religion or belief groups), in publicly funded schools in England. Such religious education is considered to be intrinsically worthwhile and instrumentally important in contributing to pupils’ personal and social development. The approach considered is hermeneutical, bringing reliable information into relationship with knowledge and experience of pupils and teacher through active learning, including dialogue. Qualitative research on student and early career teachers suggests that appropriate skills and attitudes supporting an impartial approach can be developed, facilitating a relationship of trust between teacher and students. A condition is the development of teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the stances of pupils in their classes. However, some student teachers or teachers with very firmly held views find it very difficult to adopt an impartial approach. On the basis of examples from qualitative research, it is argued that good quality teacher education can assist in developing appropriate skills and attitudes for those wishing to take an impartial approach. Further research, ideally involving partnership between researchers and practitioners, is recommended.     

The remedial programme for out-of-school and drop-out children in Rwanda

This article discusses an educational practice that has been introduced in Rwanda, which aims to bring back into the formal education system children who are out-of-school or unschooled, even though they are over the legal enrolment age. The authors analyse this intensive programme, designed for children at that age and adapted to their daily living conditions, which are particularly difficult. They also examine the factors underlying this innovative approach, its originality and the features that make it a good practice that could be applied in other contexts. The minimal conditions for success, the implications for teacher training, the obstacles faced and the strategies devised to overcome these obstacles are also discussed.

Tolerable and inclusive learning spaces: an evaluation of policies and specifications for physical environments that promote inclusion in Turkish Primary Schools

Inclusive education (IE), which calls for equal opportunities for students with diverse abilities in the achievement of knowledge, has been developed as a central pedagogical strategy in primary schools worldwide, including those in Turkey. Besides educators, the issue of IE becomes an important discussion area among designers who question the provision of supportive learning environments in terms of inclusion. Equal opportunity, diversity, social justice and participation are necessary parameters for a comprehensive understanding of inclusion and the evaluation of the spatial character of inclusive learning environments. The lack of clarity of ideas about inclusion leads to limited implementation of IE in Turkey. Insufficient provision of school facilities that are necessary for IE and a lack of effective and comprehensive design approaches for physical learning environments further complicate this situation. Design specifications in Turkish regulations regarding inclusive learning environments in primary schools remain too technical, as they merely focus on the issue of disability and special education rather than inclusion. This paper focuses on assessing the conformity of these regulations to universal design (UD), a recent architectural design strategy that supports the idea of inclusion in physical environments through its mission of design for all and design for equity and social justice and seeks to make physical environments accessible, usable and tolerable for all students with diverse abilities.     

Hidden voices in higher education: inclusive policies and practices in social science and law classrooms

This paper pertains to a broader biographical-narrative research project which studies barriers and support as identified by students with disabilities at a Spanish University (Barriers and Support That Disabled Students Identify in the University. Project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Dir. Dr Anabel Moriña; Ref. EDU 2010–16264, 2010–2014)). The present study focuses specifically on barriers and support identified by students with disabilities enrolled in undergraduate programmes in the Social Sciences and Law. The purpose of this paper is to analyse, from the point of view of disabled students (applying the biographic-narrative methodology), which barriers and which support this group encounters in Higher Education. To this end, findings are organised in the following categories: general institutional data; infrastructure, architectural and accessibility-related data; faculty and teaching-related data; data relating to fellow students; and suggestions for improving the university and/or university classrooms. In the Conclusions section, we return to our earlier discussion of key findings which shed some light on how the University helps or hinders learning among participants in the study. From this perspective, taking as a reference the social model of disability, we conclude that in order to be inclusive, the University needs to commit itself to adopting proactive measures that eliminate the barriers that do not permit the learning and the full participation of the students in question.