In the past learners with disabilities have experienced severe forms of discrimination, isolation and separation. They were perceived as persons with deficits and in need of help. They were separated from society as they were considered to be inadequate people. The discriminative practices against learners with disabilities and the doctrines of apartheid that contributed to discrimination and separation on racial differences resulted in learners with disabilities being doubly handicapped. The discrimination against learners with disabilities is largely the result of adherence to the medical model and deficit theory to disability. However, the current trends which support the social rights theory and ecological systems theory to disability which are consistent with the Constitution and its Bill of Rights, adopts an inclusive approach and promotes equal rights and equal opportunity to all people, including learners with disabilities. This commits schools to enrolling learners with disabilities and providing equal education opportunities for them. To provide a meaningful educational experience for all learners, education structures need to be enabled, and attitudes, teaching and learning methodologies, and the curriculum changed to reflect inclusive values. Furthermore, Education White Paper 6 (DoE, 2001) clearly states that classroom educators are the primary resource for achieving the goal of inclusive education. This implies that educators will need to be empowered to change their attitudes, refine their teaching practice and where necessary, develop new ones. Hence, this study aims to explore the teaching practices of special needs educators in the context of building an inclusive education system. A qualitative case study approach was adopted in this study, whereby six participants who were teaching at special schools were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule, exploring their day to day teaching practices. The findings reveal that the teaching practices of special needs educators are in line with inclusive practices that could benefit mainstream educators. Special needs educators adjust and adapt their teaching practice to accommodate and address the diverse needs of all the learners so that each individual learner receives a learning experience that "fits". However, acknowledgement and recommendations are made with regard to the challenges encountered when adapting teaching practices. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

In celebrating 10 years of democracy, South Africa has among other things placed even greater emphasis on human rights. The education of those experiencing barriers to learning, where it has been offered, has historically been separate from general education. The right to inclusive education is currently an international concern and can be viewed as one of the many initiatives that could steer this country into the future. However, other demands also highlighted in this research, make it difficult for ordinary schools to take up the challenge. The primary aim of this research was to investigate current conditions in one typical South African classroom in a disadvantaged area, with reference to inclusion. The study took place at a primary school and attempts to provide a rich description of the school, classroom, educator and learners. The context described is one likely to be familiar to many educators. The study identifies and portrays in detail the range of barriers to learning present in a particular classroom and describes the educator and methods used to accommodate learners. <br /> <br /> The findings indicate that this educator&rsquo / s classroom can to a certain extent be described as an inclusive classroom and some of the strategies used to accommodate learners are in line with inclusive practices. The final discussion raises a number of important issues with respect to barriers to learning, curriculum, educator training and school support. It is hoped that this study will highlight key issues and possible solutions that could facilitate the implementation of inclusion in South Africa.

M.Ed. / This research essay focuses on the empowerment of educators as adult learners with a view to develop a positive attitude towards inclusive education. The philosophy of inclusive education has become more prominent in the education fraternity worldwide with the turn of the century and has been applied with great success in countries like the USA, United Kingdom and the Scandinavian countries. Education White Paper 6 passes new regulations on the implementation of special needs education and inclusive education in South Africa Inclusive education as an education system is part of actions taken and reform supported by the National Education Department in South Africa to render education more accessable for all learners with their diverse educational needs. These new regulations are to be implemented by educators in South African schools. The problem that arises in South Africa is that educators do not have a good grounding in the philosophy and values of inclusive education, which leads to negative attitudes. These negative attitudes are seen by various South African researchers as an obstacle to implement inclusive education in South African schools. The statement of the problem in this essay is: How can a workshop for educators as adult learners be designed to empower them with positive attitudes to eventually successfully implement and apply the philosophy of inclusive education in South African schools? The aim of this research was to develop and design a workshop for educators to promote and enhance positive attitudes towards the implementation of inclusive education. Without the positive attitudes of the educators on ground level the implementation is doomed to failure. The philosophy of inclusive education is based on democratic values of freedom, equity and the acknowledgement of human rights. A paradigm shift towards learners who experience barriers to learning must be developed and those learners should be experienced as valued citizens of society. It must therefore be noted that inclusive education does not only include learners with dissabilities but all learners that have barriers to learning and those that were previously deprived of or denied access to education.

It is clear that the concept of inclusive education implies that learners experiencing barriers to learning should, wherever possible and with suitable support, be educated with others in a regular school setting and through a regular curriculum. It is assumed that suitable facilities, resources and assistance, where needed, will be available. An adaptable curriculum that accommodates the specific learners who experience barriers to learning is also essential for inclusive education. The focus on providing equal educational opportunities for learners experiencing barriers to learning means that the traditional roles and responsibilities in education will inevitably change. Teachers have to modify their views of themselves, their teaching methods and the roles that they have to play during the implementation of inclusive education. Teachers will have to be adequately trained to effectively and confidently provide appropriate education to learners experiencing barriers to learning. The primary goal of the study is to explore the experiences, perceptions and needs of teachers regarding inclusive education. The secondary goal is to develop a training model to equip in -service teachers better for inclusive education. The research process was structured by the application of a qualitative research approach within a theory generative design, utilising five steps of theory generation in order to reach the objectives of the study. The qualitative approach was selected, as it is exploratory in nature. Founded in this exploratory research, a central concept was identified, with the aim of developing a model to assist teachers in implementing inclusive education. ABSTRACT (xvii) The research was conducted in two phases. The first section of the research comprised an exploration of the experiences, perceptions and needs of teachers regarding inclusive education. It embraced several decisions relating to data collection and analysis processes, such as defining the population and selecting the sample procedure and the data collection method, namely personal interviews with teachers, in order to determine their experiences, perceptions and needs. Concepts in the transcripts were categorised into themes and sub-themes and were verified by a literature review. A central concept was identified ( of the theory-generative research design) that can be further analysed in the second section of the research. The second section of the research was based on the findings of the research and the work of Chinn and Kramer (1995) in order to develop a training model to assist teachers in implementing inclusive education. The following additional steps of model design were employed: - Step Two : Concept definition and classification - Step Three : Construction of relationship statement - Step Four : Description and evaluation of the model - Step Five : Model operationalisation After data analysis was completed, the research established that the participating teachers were not in favour of inclusive education and therefore perceived it negatively. They also viewed themselves as not suitably equipped to work in inclusive settings. They were also discontented and experienced an intense feeling of incompetence. The researcher identified the in teachers as the central concept, which served as the foundation of the design of a model for teachers with regard to inclusive education. The essential criteria of the concept were identified and linked to each other by means of relationship statements. The model was described and evaluated according to the five criteria of clarity; simplicity; generality; accessibility; and significance, as proposed by Step One revitalisation of competence Chinn and Kramer (1995). The researcher also reflected on the limitations inherent to this research study and presented guidelines and recommendations for the operationalisation of the model in practice, to guide future research and in-service training programmes.

A research report submitted to the Wits School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education by combination of coursework and research. Johannesburg 2019 / Grade retention in South Africa, as in other developing countries, is a common practice of holding back learners who have failed to meet specific promotional requirements. Despite studies that highlight the negative outcomes of scholastic retention, this practice has gained popularity in countries in Southern Africa including South Africa. Learners who struggle academically are retained in the grade if they are unable to meet specific requirements. It is sad to note that learners are not consulted before being retained; their voices do not matter. Studies have been conducted on teachers’ perspectives on this topic. However, research on how learners experience retention has not been done. The main objective of this research is to ascertain how learners experience and perceive the practice of grade retention in the foundation phase. Doing research with children is critical and challenging, and this research tries to ‘dip a toe’ in and conduct research with children and not on children. Most schools were sceptical about allowing learners to participate in this study .but one school consented and allowed their learners to participate. The participants were selected using a number generating system so as to make sure that the sample was representative, and the participants were involved in two sets of interviews. In the first set of interviews, they drew pictures of themselves and were probed about the pictures they had drawn. In the second set of interviews, a blob tree was used as a tool for those interviewed to express their feelings. The focal point of this research was to understand the perceptions and experiences of a group and not an individual. Therefore, this qualitative research employed a phenomenographic methodology because it aims to “explore the range of meanings within a sample group, as a group, not the range of meanings for each individual within a group” (Akerlind, 2005, p. 323). This research was based on finding out how experiences of retained learners can enable Inclusive education. The findings were reported according to five key themes, namely socio-emotional outcomes, impact on learners’ relationship; academic issues and stereotyping by teachers. The findings of this study revealed that the majority of learners did not enjoy being retained in a grade, but this did not affect their academic progress. Some learners were teased and bullied by peers and friends. In some cases, the teachers also teased learners about repeating the grade. The limitations of the study included the following: the time frame; the sample size; the researcher’s involvement in the study; the data was collected from one school in Gauteng; the emotional distress experienced by some of the respondents; and, contradictory statements from a few of the respondents. Future research could look at broader cultural, social and economic issues that might contribute to an increased retention rate, as well as the negative emotional effects of grade retention. / NG (2020)

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Clinical Psychology) in the Department of Psychology University of Zululand, 2002. / To provide equal access to education, it is required that children be placed in the least restrictive environment that will promote their academic and social development. Schools are therefore integrating learners with special education needs (LSEN) from segregated special education settings into mainstream schools. Educators play a crucial role in the integration process, thus knowledge of their attitudes is important. The study focuses on the attitudes of educators towards LSEN and the attitudes of educators towards the integration of LSEN into mainstream schools. A study of the literature was undertaken and guided by those insights a questionnaire was drawn up. This was distributed to educators and the information was statistically analyzed and presented. The questionnaire consisted of scales that measured attitudes. The relationship of educator attitudes to such educator variables as age, gender and experience in education was examined. The study revealed that educators hold favourable attitudes to both LSEN and the integration of LSEN into the mainstream. It was also found that male educators hold more favourable attitudes than female educators. Educator variables, age and number of years teaching experience were found to not significantly effect attitudes. Results from this study will enable programmes and policy implementation and development concerning the integration process of LSEN into the mainstream environment.

A dissertation submitted to the FACULTY OF EDUCATION at the UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION in the Department of Educational Planning and Administration, 2004. / This study was influenced by the White Paper 6 document on inclusive education. The document proposes non-discrimination of learners which is in line with South African Constitution, Act 108 of 1996 and South African Schools, Act 1996. All learners should be accommodated in the class without any discrimination against race, gender and disabilities so as to have opportunities to develop their capacities and potential, and make their full contribution to the society. The empirical study, conducted at Ndwedwe Circuit in Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN), attempts to evaluate the implementation of inclusive education in mainstream schools. Data has been solicited from a sample population of school management teams by means of questionnaires. Both open and close-ended questions were used. The followings are reflected as key findings that emanated from the empirical study. * There is a general lack of information from school management teams about new education document relative to Inclusive Education which has -emerged recently such as Education White Paper 6 (2002). * There is a lack of teacher development programmes to capacitate the educators to effectively implement inclusive education in the mainstream schools. * There is also a shortage and/or inadequate infrastructure to support inclusive education within the mainstream schools. ^ The study also reveals that not all the respondents have appropriate knowledge or adequate information about inclusive education and effective strategies for it successful implementation. On the basis of the above findings, among others, the following key recommendations have been made. * Every educator in the mainstream schools should be adequately trained to implement Inclusive Education at the level of the classroom. * The department of education should provide meaningful and adequate support services to schools and school management teams (SMTs). * The school governing body should play an active role to promote inclusive education and training.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfillment or partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education at the University of Zululand, 2003. / The present investigation had three objectives. The first aim was to examine educators' attitudes towards inclusive education. The second aim was to determine the extent to which educators were influenced by factors such as qualifications, age, gender, phase, experience, and class size. The third aim was to find out whether educators who have contact with special education personnel, hold positive attitudes towards inclusive education. The questionnaire was administered to groups of black and white educators teaching in mainstream settings, a remedial centre and in a pilot school for inclusive education in KwaZulu-Natal. Fifty-eight percent of the educators were found to have negative attitudes towards inclusive education, whereas forty-two percent displayed a positive attitude towards inclusive education. Results also indicated that the variables of age, gender, qualification, experience, grade and class-size have an influence on educators' attitudes towards inclusive education. The results furthermore show that fifty-nine percent of educators did not have contact with special education personnel and that the majority of this group hold negative attitudes towards inclusive education. Forty-one percent of educators had contact with special education personnel and the majority of this group had positive attitudes towards inclusive education. Therefore, it is concluded that educators' contact with special education personnel influenced their attitudes towards inclusion of disabled learners in mainstream settings.

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF EDUCATION In the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education of the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2009. / The aim of this investigation was to establish primary school educators’ readiness for inclusive education. From the literature study it emerges that inclusive education constitutes a challenge to the education system in South Africa, in particular to mainstream educators. Successful implementation of inclusive education requires educators to have the necessary knowledge, skills, competencies and support to accommodate a wide range of diversity among learners in an inclusive classroom. They must be able to select appropriate teaching strategies to achieve specific outcomes. Effective inclusion will only stay a dream if educators do not have necessary training, support system and appropriate resources. For the purpose of the empirical investigation a self-structured questionnaire, to be completed by educators from primary schools, was utilized. The data obtained from the complete questionnaires were analyzed and commented on by means of descriptive statistics. In conclusion a summary was presented on the findings of the literature review and empirical investigation and the following are some of the recommendations that were made: • Opportunities for in-service training regarding inclusive education must be made available to mainstream educators. • Pre-service training courses to address the special needs of LSEN should form part of the curriculum at institutions that train educators. The Department of Education must provide adequate support to educators concerning all aspects of inclusive education.

Text in Afrikaans / Die konsepdokument van die National Curriculum Statement (2003) van die Onderwysdepartement in Suid-Afrika staan 'n inklusiewe benadering voor met verwysing na gehalte-onderwys vir alle leerders, en maak sodoende voorsiening vir die diversiteit van leerders. Die National Curriculum Statement stel dit (vir die eerste keer in Suid-Afrika) onomwonde dat die nuwe Nasionale Kurrikulum voorsiening sal maak vir alle leerders met struikelblokke tot leer (StL) in teenstelling met hulle uitsluiting in die verlede van gewone onderwys of hoofstroming by verstek. Beperkte navorsing het aan die lig gebring dat onderwysers opleiding benodig om die verskeidenheid struikelblokke te hanteer wat leerders moontlik kan he. Die navorser het die weg gebaan vir die opleiding van onderwysers en leerders om StL te akkommodeerdeurditas deel van die leerondersteuningsmateriaal in te sluit. Die vertrekpunt van die opleidingsprogram is dat elke mens in 'n sekere mate struikelblokke het om te oorkom en dat die opvoedkundige gemeenskap elkeen van daardie gemeenskap kan insluit en versorg. / The draft document of the National Curriculum Statement (2003) of the Department of Education in South Africa promotes an inclusive approach regarding the quality education of all learners, thus including provision for diversities of learners. The National Curriculum Statement states explicitly (for the first time in South Africa) that the new National Curriculum will provide for all learners with barriers to learning (BtL) as opposed to their previous exclusion from ordinary education or mainstreaming by default. Limited research - has shown that teachers need training to deal with the variety of barriers that learners may exhibit. The researcher pioneered the concept of including the training of teachers and learners to accommodate BtL as part of the learning support material. The training programme's point of departure is the view that, to some extent, every person has certain barriers to overcome, and that the educational community can include and care for each and every member of that community. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Inclusive Education)