This qualitative research study examines the relationship between three teacher participants’ beliefs and their classroom practices as it relates to the ongoing implementation of inclusive education and Manitoba’s regulated Bill 13 (Manitoba Education Citizenship and Youth Appropriate Educational Programming 2007). Semi-structured interviews provide personal narratives of beliefs about learning, inclusion and disability. Classroom observations provide an opportunity to examine the influence on practice. Additionally, the study determines if self-described beliefs match observed classroom actions. Findings suggest that there are varying degrees of commitment to inclusive practice which are determined by individual frustrations, teacher confidence, teacher skill levels and understandings of role and responsibility. The conclusion proposes that we continue to have a gap between teacher knowledge and professional actions. It further suggests that inclusion’s implementation will be reliant on individual teacher commitment to fostering inclusive practice in addition to systemic structural reform which supports the ideals of inclusion in relevant and pragmatic ways.

This qualitative research study examines the relationship between three teacher participants’ beliefs and their classroom practices as it relates to the ongoing implementation of inclusive education and Manitoba’s regulated Bill 13 (Manitoba Education Citizenship and Youth Appropriate Educational Programming 2007). Semi-structured interviews provide personal narratives of beliefs about learning, inclusion and disability. Classroom observations provide an opportunity to examine the influence on practice. Additionally, the study determines if self-described beliefs match observed classroom actions. Findings suggest that there are varying degrees of commitment to inclusive practice which are determined by individual frustrations, teacher confidence, teacher skill levels and understandings of role and responsibility. The conclusion proposes that we continue to have a gap between teacher knowledge and professional actions. It further suggests that inclusion’s implementation will be reliant on individual teacher commitment to fostering inclusive practice in addition to systemic structural reform which supports the ideals of inclusion in relevant and pragmatic ways.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 8, 2007). Includes bibliographical references.

M.Ed.

In this qualitative study the researcher provided proposed guidelines to empower teachers to render learner support to learners who experience reading barriers. A literature study was undertaken to investigate the importance and consequences of inclusive education, the need for a systematic approach, reading problems and its causes and remediation thereof. The empirical study includes interviews with important stakeholders and observations. The results of the empirical study culminated into proposed guidelines to empower teachers to render learner support to these learners. Recommendations were made based on the literature study and the results of the empirical research

Prior to the advent of the new democratic political dispensation in 1994, South African education had laboured under racially motivated discriminatory practices of active exclusion of the majority of learners. The authoritarian system located educational problems in the perceived deficiencies of the learner rather than in the repressive, top-down, non-participative, unreflective and uninclusive practices of the prevailing educational orthodoxy of the time. After 1994, the broader reconceptualisation of South African education sought to redress the imbalances of the past by creating equal opportunities for all learners, irrespective of race or creed. However, the difficult conundrum was how such a complex systemic change could be driven by teachers who had not only been trained in a heavily segregated educational system but formed part of it. Therefore, the aim of the thesis was to determine how teachers conceptualised inclusive teaching, explore the teaching practices that were believed to be effective in promoting inclusion in the South African secondary classrooms, and determine how they could be developed. The two-dimensional research study firstly took the form of a qualitative collaborative action research project conducted with a team of fifteen teachers at a single South African secondary school. The project was non-positivistic, critical, emancipatory and allowed the participants jointly to define the constructs of inclusive education, inclusive teaching and inclusive class; to identify practices of inclusion through observation; to adopt other practices in their classes; to determine the effect of such practices on inclusive teaching and learning; and finally to draw conclusions about the specific practices that were clearly effective in the context of their school. Secondly, an inductive analytical framework was used by the researcher to determine the theoretical contribution the study would make to the notion of developing inclusive teaching practices and determining the way this could be achieved within the South African school context. Data were collected through a series of meetings, participant observations, focus-group interviews, and one-on-one semi-structured interviews during the action-research stages of planning, action and reflection. Limitations were the teacher-researchers' lack of experience in conducting research and the limited time the research team had to complete the research tasks. The findings indicate that, at the time of the research, the conceptualisations of inclusive teaching and inclusive pedagogy were varied and continued to be influenced by the former special-needs education system. Moreover, the findings show that, while the inclusive practices identified by the teachers in this study are popular in the international literature, they need to be contextualised in and made relevant to the South African situation. However, it is clear that the teachers' experience of participating in the action-research process had raised their awareness of the importance of inclusive teaching, promoted a sense of emancipation, and held out the prospect of successful and possibly lasting change. These findings clearly imply that the reconceptualisation of inclusive pedagogy should always take place within a specific context, and that South African teachers in particular should form communities of inquiry to reflect on and develop their inclusive practices. The study has captured the essence of inclusion within the South African school context and has identified areas that need further research, for example the impact of different cultural beliefs on both teachers and learners in relation to inclusion. In conclusion, the study has demonstrated the unique contribution of action research in promoting continuous reflection, revision and intervention as indispensable procedures in the process of improving inclusive teaching and learning.

Globally, white people enjoy historical, unearned privilege. This phenomenon is known and understood as 'white privilege'. In contemporary South Africa, white privilege stems from colonialism and apartheid. The legacy of colonialism and apartheid is still felt today and has a direct and continuous consequence in the form of racial inequality. This dissertation confronts the legacy of Afrikaner nationalism, which essentially instituted and upheld apartheid and still undergirds white people's privilege in democratic South Africa. Engagements were undertaken with ten white, Afrikaans speaking women between the ages of 24 and 32. Substantive transformation, bringing about the necessary change to racial power relations, has not been realised in contemporary South Africa. The research finds that this phenomenon is a result of a 'reconciliation gap' that was left by the participants' parents' generation. It is argued that reconciliation in South Africa will only be possible if responsibility is taken for the wrongs of the past. A 'responsibility gap', left by the participants' parents' generation, is identified and the research findings suggest that this gap should now be covered by the post-apartheid generation. This generation must cover the gap and shoulder the responsibility that was not taken by their parents' generation. An inclusive innovation praxis model was produced, to suggest practical steps aimed at cultivating positive political agency and to cover the 'responsibility gap' and contribute towards a more inclusive South African society.

Organisations are increasingly dependent on the collaborative effort of individuals and teams to achieve outcomes such as solve complex problems, take advantage of opportunities and enhance organisational efficiencies. In fact, there are few activities that human beings are involved in which do not involve collaboration. Yet the experiences of individuals called upon to make collaborations work are often over-looked by leaders and collaboration conveners pre, during and post collaborations. These leaders tend to concentrate their attention on operational antecedents such as systems, processes and resources required, as well as the attainment of the collaboration outcome. It is therefore unsurprising that the outcome of collaborative activity is often capped at the specified outcome. However, in the context of a perform and outperform world and especially where global economic growth is severely contracted, there is ongoing interest in the ability of organisations to create competitive advantage through collaborativepeople- based advantage. The modern-day requirement is for collaboration activity to more accurately reflect the capabilities of the collaboration partakes. This study examines how individuals' self-efficacy, optimism, resilience, and trust influence how they collaborate within an organisation setting. Accordingly, the two primary areas of examination are collaboration and individuals' experiences. This phenomenological and explorative study adopted an inductive, qualitative, single-case study approach adopting interviews, questionnaire, observation and secondary data as research instruments. The study was conducted with a mature non-profit organisation where collaboration was identified as crucial to the attainment of their goals and targets. A review of the evolution of collaboration as a theory in its own right was conducted as part of the study. The field of positive psychology and in particular the offshoots of positive organisation behaviours and positive psychological capabilities were reviewed as the foundation from which individuals' experiences were examined within the study. The study revealed that while individuals' experiences were considered important by the leaders within the case examined, they were largely ignored during collaboration efforts. As a result, individuals' experiences were not considered important inputs to collaboration efforts. Furthermore, individuals' experiences were not considered influential to the attainment of collaboration outcomes nor to the attainment of specified organisational targets and goals. In particular, optimism and trust were found to markedly contribute to individuals' experience during a collaboration, while self-efficacy and resilience did so to a lesser degree. Interestingly, rapid organisation growth emerged as an unanticipated yet key influencer to individuals' experiences during collaboration. The study makes a threefold contribution. The first is theoretical contribution to collaboration theory by exposing the positive and negative, external and internal antecedents of individual's experiences during collaboration. The applicable experience construct (self-efficacy, optimism, resilience, trust and growth as an influencer), or a combination thereof, as found in this study, is mapped out for each antecedent type in the "Framework for Individual's Experiences during Collaboration". The framework also includes the positive and negative, individual level and organisational level outcomes of individual's experiences. Thus, in so doing, the second contribution made is to the continually expanding research of Psychological Capabilities (PsyCap) and the specific outcomes they influence. The third contribution of this study is the development of the "Xⁿ collaboration model" which depicts three modes of collaboration where each mode influences the outcome and performance of an organisation against its identified objectives.