Thesis (M.A.)--Rowan University, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rowan University, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A Psychology) -- University of the Western Cape, 2008. / Includes bibliographic references (leaves128-143).

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2003. / CD-ROM contains appendices. Includes bibliography.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rowan University, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2006. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Aug. 29, 2006). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2006. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Sept. 25, 2006). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Rowan University, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Inclusive education has become a global trend in the 21st century and is seen as a way of addressing barriers to learning for children with diverse backgrounds, needs, abilities and learning styles. The key to the success of the implementation of inclusive education lies in teacher education as this is where teachers are trained. Teacher education is thus expected to equip pre-service teacher trainees with relevant and effective strategies to enable them to implement inclusive education effectively in the schools in response to learner diversity. This study therefore focused on assessing the strategies for implementing inclusive education that teacher educators equip their pre-service trainees with in the primary teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe. The research was grounded in the pragmatist paradigm and the mixed method approach was employed. Data were collected from two primary teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe and in primary schools in the Harare Metropolitan Province. The participants were lecturers (teacher educators), pre-service trainees in the final phase of the course and qualified teachers who trained with the two colleges and are teaching in the Mbare-Hatfield District of the Harare Metropolitan Province. The study found out that most of the lecturers, pre-service teacher trainees and qualified teachers knew about inclusive education although some had a narrow view of the extent to which learner diversity entails. Therefore, this could affect the way these educators perceive inclusive teaching strategies in the implementation of inclusive education. The main finding was that the teaching strategies that pre-service trainees were equipped with were not quite effective for inclusive classrooms. The study also unveiled that lecturers in the primary teacher training colleges were aware of different teaching strategies with which pre-service trainees can be equipped and exposed to in order for effective teaching and learning to take place. They, however, did not differentiate between those strategies for regular classes and those for inclusive ones. Although the lecturers were aware of inclusive teaching strategies, they did not do much to equip their trainees with these due to challenges which include lack of coordinated programmes in lecturing in the different subject areas; lack of integration in topics taught in the different subject areas; loaded timetables in the teacher education curriculum; the nature of the teacher education curriculum which is not flexible as it focuses on examinations; inadequate resources and high lecturer-student ratio in the colleges; and high teacher-pupil ratio in the primary schools where the pre-service trainees do their teaching practice. The researcher made some recommendations from the conclusions drawn from the research findings. The recommendations included that there is need for adequate teacher preparation and training to enable teachers to be flexible, accommodative and reflective in their practice in terms of employing teaching strategies. The researcher also recommended a review of the primary teacher education curriculum in its entirety to accommodate fully the teaching of inclusive education.

D.Ed. / To understand the concept of inclusive education in the South African context it is important to reflect on the history of the education system. Prior to 1994 the Education Department had been divided into eighteen different departments which were differentiated in terms of race and ethniticity. Each department had its own policies regarding learners with barriers to learning. Some of these departments made no provision for these learners, consequently they were marginalised, especially in rural communities. Extreme disparities existed in the provision of education and virtually no black children with learning barriers had access to education. In the departments that did however provide for learners with learning barriers, psychologists evaluated these learners by means of the medical model. This model took into account only barriers that were intrinsic and which may have an effect on learning. The medical model labeled, categorised and stigmatised, learners and they were accordingly placed in special schools. Not only did this labeling negatively influence learners' self-esteem and self-worth, but that their learning barriers were seldom addressed and the required support was hardly forthcoming. After the first democratic election in South Africa in 1994, a single education department was established. Legislation has subsequently changed and every learner now has the right to equal education with the development of White Paper 6: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System. This study focused on a specific rural school and examined the implementation of inclusive education in this school. The contextual and cultural aspects of the school were considered using a case study with elements of ethnography, taking into account and how the school has accepted, implemented and promoted inclusive education. The need for change and context as well as culture was investigated, showing how this has influenced the implementation of inclusive education in this school.