Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009. / Prepared for: School of Education. Title from title-page of electronic thesis. Bibliography: leaves 118-123.

Thesis (D. Phil. Communication Pathology)--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Summary in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to train teachers and peers to increase social interactions of children who had been identified as having a lack of social interactions in an inclusive preschool in Korea. Four children with disabilities were identified by teachers as lacking social interactions with peers and teachers, and were the focal subjects of the study. The focal children, four teachers, and four classes of peer children participated in two interventions, an initial training on naturalistic teaching strategies with teachers and a training on social skills with peer and focal children, and a combined intervention. A multiple probe design was employed to examine effects of the two interventions during free choice play periods. The four teachers were trained on naturalistic teaching strategies, and peers and focal children in each class participated in a training on social interactions for the first intervention phase. The second intervention was a combined intervention consisting of both naturalistic teaching strategies of teachers and a ‘group game’ in which peer children used social interaction skills with focal children. This study consisted of baseline I, training teachers and children with baseline II, the combined intervention, and the maintenance phase. The results of this study indicate that focal children’s mean percentage of social interactions with teachers and peers in free choice play periods increased from baseline I after the initial training with baseline II. The maintenance phase indicated that mean percentages of social interactions of focal children increased from the mean percentages of social interactions in baseline I. This study may contribute to issues of training teachers on naturalistic teaching strategies and children on social skill interactions in an inclusive preschool in Korea, and the United States, for promoting social interactions with children with disabilities. / text

The author examined the effect of personality traits and the buffering effect of social support on psychological well-being of primary school teachers in inclusive education in Hong Kong. A sample of 200 Chinese teachers was surveyed. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that neuroticism was highly correlated with and accounted for depression, anxiety, and burnout in our sample. Family support was found to have significant main effect on depression (R² = 48%, ΔR² = 3%), and anxiety (R² = 63%, ΔR² = 2%) when the main effects of neuroticism were partialled out. Significant moderating effect of family support on the relationship between neuroticism and depression was found. To further investigate the effect of marital status on this buffering model, hierarchical regression analysis was conducted with teachers who were married and those who were single, respectively. The analyses revealed significant main effects of neuroticism regardless of teachers’ marital status. Significant main effect of family support and interaction Neuroticism x Family Support were only found for married teachers. These findings have implications that family support was an important factor in mitigating psychological distress particularly for teachers who were married and reported high level of neuroticism. Interventions of enhancing family support and school support were discussed. / published_or_final_version / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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This study used ethnographic research methodology to examine the process of including children with special needs in a regular split grade 4/5 classroom. Participant observation was conducted over a ten month period. In-depth interviews were held with students, parents, regular classroom teachers, special educators, and administrators. Other sources of data included documents collected in the field, notes from informal discussions, videotapes, diagrams, and photographs. The thesis provides rich description and detailed analysis of the processes and supports used to address the diverse needs of aft of the children in the class. Among the findings: (a) participants' definitions of integration had an effect on the process of addressing the diverse needs of all of the children in the regular classroom, (b) the characteristics of the teacher and the strategies he employed were seen as critical to the success of this integration effort, and (c) reallocation of personnel and resources and provision for scheduled collaborative sessions for teachers were considered to be desirable adjustments to further balance the integration effort and to better fit resources and personnel to the people and area of greatest need. The goal of this study was to provide a richly detailed, comprehensive portrait of the integration process which can serve as a medium through which regular classroom teachers can familiarize themselves with the issues surrounding integration, anticipate problem areas and areas of strength, and plan strategies for success.

<p>The main aim of this study was to understand the factors that facilitate or constrain the implementation of inclusive education in the South African context. These factors were explored through a qualitative case study. A documentary analysis, as well as unstructured and semi-structured interviews was used to collect the data within die context of the research aims, questions, and a framework of categories, drawn from relevant literature, was used to analyse the data. The first major finding of this study was that the implementation of inclusive education policy in South Africa has been facilitated by the school communities' beliefs, values and norms relating to the inclusion of learners with disabilities. The second major finding of this study is that the designers of the inclusive education policy underestimated the deep-seated socio-economic factors that inhibit effective learning in certain contexts. Poverty was identified as a major constraining factor in the study, followed by the complexities of the National Curriculum Statement, a lack of capacity to implement the policy, lack of support for policy implementation, and the limitations of the Education White Paper 6 itself. Given the facilitating and constraining factors emerging from this study, the recommendations made have been based on the assumption that the implementation of inclusive education policy is a worthwhile endeavour.</p>

<p>This study investigated the challenges of implementing inclusive education in one Khayelitsha mainstream school. The key objectives of this study were to determine which aspects of implementation have worked well in the school and which have not, while exploring the underlying reasons in each case.</p>

This study assessed and described the self-concept of adolescents with physically disabilities in inclusive secondary schools, in Lagos state, Nigeria. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed to generate information and to answer the critical questions posed for this study. The choice of methodological triangulation was based on the complex nature of self-concept and the philosophical perception of "self", especially as it relates to the Nigerian cultural society. The instruments used to collect data, were the Self-Concept Scale (SCS), which measured the respondents' self-concept from the perspective of others' judgement of them and the Student Problem Inventory (SPI), which measured the respondents' self-concept from the perspective of their own judgements of themselves. Academic Achievement (ACA) obtained from the students academic records was used to determine the relationship between academic achievement and self-concept. Semi-Structured Interviews and Observations were used to obtain complementary data, and to further assess the elements of the self-concept, which were not assessed on SCS and SPI. The purpose of interview was also to allow the physically disabled to tell their stories which expressed the development of their self-concept overtime. Results of the study revealed that the physically disabled description of their self-concept is low or negative. It was found that many factors influenced their negative self-concept, which includes the attitudes of the society towards the disabled, their socio-economic status, their schooling condition and above all the way in which they internalised these actions and reactions from their environment. Results also revealed no gender differences in self-concept. Statistically significant relationship was however found between academic achievement and the self-concept. A statistically significant relationship was also found between respondents' personal problems and their academic achievement. Respondents with positive perception of school had high self-concept and those with negative perception of school had low or negative self-concept. It was suggested that researchers should create more interest in the study of physically disabled students, particularly those in inclusive secondary schools and more concern should be shown to the investigation of other factors that could affect the behaviour of this group of disabled. It was also recommended that the Lagos state government should become more concerned and serious about the education of the physically disabled in Lagos state. It is apparent that with proper policy decisions, the disabled students' condition could improve and their self-concept enhanced. This would result to positive adjustment and consequently fully functioning individuals that are ready to contribute positively to nation building. / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Durban-Westville, 2003.

The last decade has seen enormous transformation in public schools in South Africa. One of the greatest changes is the increase in the diversity in the classroom. Since 2000, education policies emphasize the development of quality education in inclusive settings meeting the needs of all learners. The concept of inclusive education places emphasis on changing the system rather than the child, thereby requiring transformation of traditional approaches to teaching and learning. The factor that has the greatest impact on diversity is the movement towards including learners experiencing barriers to learning and development in the general education classroom in mainstream settings. This study is an attempt to explore and describe the experiences of grade 6 learners, particularly with reading difficulties, and the challenges faced by them in being included in the inclusive classrooms. A qualitative approach was employed in conducting this research. Purposive sampling was used to select participants. The data was obtained by means of unstructured interviews from individual learners. The recorded interviews were then transcribed and analyzed. The findings indicate that learners encountered negative and positive experiences and that it is important to listen to the often 'hidden' voices of learners experiencing barriers to learning and development. Therefore it is important for both educators and all learners to value differences in an inclusive classroom in order to accept and promote learning for the learners with barriers to learning and development. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.