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.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTERS IN EDUCATION In the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education of the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2010. / The aim of this study was to investigate the challenges facing educators’ in the inclusion of ADHD learners in the mainstream classroom. As an introduction to the study the challenges faced by educators’ in the inclusion of ADHD learners in mainstream classes were reviewed by means of a study of available and relevant literature. Educators are people who make learning and teaching possible and their own challenges in what is happening in the classroom are of crucial importance. Research done in South Africa on challenges faced by educators’ in inclusive education indicated that educators in mainstream classrooms generally express negative attitudes to mainstreaming policies and thus finds himself with many challenges. In the new education dispensation educators in mainstream classrooms have to accommodate learners with impairments, such as the ADHD child. Inclusion makes additional demands on educators because of the special educational needs of learners with impairments. The challenges facing educators in inclusion and their efficacy in meeting the special needs of learners with impairments play a determining role in the successful implementation of an inclusive education policy. For the purpose of the empirical investigation a self-structured questionnaire was utilized. An analysis was done of 110 questionnaires completed by primary school educators from the Mafukezela Gandhi district on the North Coast of KwaZulu Natal. The data was processed and interpreted by means of descriptive statistics. Essentially the following were the main findings from the empirical study:  Educators lack the necessary knowledge, skills, training and experience of learners with special educational needs.  Educators have difficulty in identifying ADHD learners.  Educators needed to change their teaching methods to accommodate learners with diverse educational needs. The study concludes with a summary and findings from the literature study and descriptive statistics. Based on these findings the following recommendations were made:  The development of curricula, institutions and methods of assessments must include a variety of strategies to accommodate learners with special educational needs, such as ADHD learners.  The basic training of educators must include compulsory courses such as orthopedagogics that will enable them to cope with the demands for inclusion of learners with special educational needs.