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This is a study of an implementation process, which means it is a study of the gray area somewhere between policy and program. The policy created in 1983 opened the door of the college to non-traditional learners. Sweeping changes in the social discourse of disability supported the development of the 1983 policy. A review of the literature revealed four factors that were likely to influence the process: the policy, the implementing agency, external influences and power, politics and negotiation. The purpose of the study was to compare a framework, established from the literature, to a framework that evolved from the research. The project concluded that the four factors were adequate to describe the situation however, the preconceived framework was inadequate to describe the relationship among the factors for this site. Data collected from documents and interviews revealed that some factors have a stronger influence on the process than others. In this case, power, politics and negotiation and the implementing agency are strong considerations, while the policy and external factors play a weaker role. The result was a reconstructed framework that portrayed the implementation process for this site. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

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Thesis (Ph. D. (Educational Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / For the past two to three decades, there has been a large influx of students with disabilities into institutions of higher education worldwide. In South Africa, in these past three decades, records of intake of students with disabilities were not recorded as services and support of this kind were not institutionalised. Within this transformation process, which involved including previously under-represented groups, institutions of higher learning are currently facing challenges of what kind of educational support to offer to students with disabilities, in order to help them to succeed academically. This study investigated the educational support offered to students with disabilities at the University of Venda (UNIVEN) as experienced by the students themselves. The study, therefore, gives an insider perspective. The study followed a qualitative research approach, and used classroom observations, document analysis and focus group interviews to collect data. Ten students with various disabilities participated in the study. The findings of this study reveal that there are some degrees of support that UNIVEN offers. However, some gaps to meet students educational needs still exist. These gaps include lack of information about the programmes that UNIVEN is offering, physical infra-structure barriers and lack of disability knowledge. This study recommends the establishment of a forum in which students with disabilities can discuss and address their educational needs on campus. Other recommendations include the following: lecturers’ training, disability awareness, the installation of an online interactive portal to increase communication between students and the university, and an online survey measuring lecturers’ attitudes and knowledge. The study suggests that future research could include factors that predict graduation rates among students with disabilities. Key words: Educational support, Disability unit, Medical Model of disability, Social model of disability.

The problem of this study was to determine if career awareness groups which use Guided Imagery (GI) and the California Occupational Preference System (COPS), both individually and in combination, have a positive effect on career attitude maturity, oi* disabled college students as measured by the Career Maturity Inventory Attitude Scale (CMI-A). This study involved three experimental groups (GI, COPS, & GI-COPS) and a control group. Participants included thirty-two volunteer disabled college students attending four community colleges in an urban area in the Southwest (Texas). There were eight volunteers per campus, and each campus constituted a group. Each group met once for 120 minutes. After consent was obtained, subjects completed the CMI-A. The general sequence was: introduction; instructions specific to the group condition; presentation of assigned stimulus condition; group discussion of reactions to the presented stimulus; control group members completed the post administration of the CMI-A; and group members' completion of the post administration of the CMI-A, with the exception of the control group which discussed reactions to the presented stimulus.

The purpose of this project is to examine what strategies can be devised to transition those with learning disabilities into the workforce. This is accomplished by a qualitative review of the history of educational policies and programs used in England, France, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Kenya, and Nigeria. These strengths and weaknesses are compared with the history of policies implemented in the United States, to see what strategies can be used to affect policy changes that will better the chances for employment for those with learning disabilities.

Learners with disabilities do not only incur various challenges in their learning encounters, but their presence also places many demands on Institutions of Higher Education (IHE). The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges and needs of learners with disabilities in an inclusive IHE and to use the findings to develop guidelines that will promote their accommodation in the learning environment. The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional quantitative design where self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data. A total of 67 learners from different disability categories participated in the study. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19. Among the participants 50.7% were males, 41.8% were mobility impaired and 29.9% were visually impaired. While almost two-thirds (64.2%) of the participants indicated that they were born with the condition, 27.3% said they required regular medical attention and 9.0% indicated they needed assistance in performing their daily routine work. With regard to challenges facing the participants, 64.1% said lecturers were not flexible in their teaching methods, and 68.8% said lecturers did not make follow-ups on them when they failed to cope academically. Among this group of learners almost 3 in 4 (74.6%) participants repeated their courses at least once. In addition, whilst 43.8% indicated that the physical environment constituted a great barrier to their learning, 53.8% said they were vulnerable to abuses and dangers. The participants rated sanitation and extra-curricular programmes as the poorest. The study established that there were significant (p=0.007) relationship between blindness status and failure rate, and also between type of secondary school (special or regular) attended and the ability to cope with the demands of tertiary education (p=0.004). These findings suggest that there are a number of challenges that tend to exclude and marginalise learners with disabilities in IHEs. The study, therefore, recommended that the Department of Higher Education and Training (DoHET) must make it mandatory for all IHEs to develop and implement inclusive institutional policies that will remove academic and social barriers in IHEs in line with the Social Model of Disability. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / Includes Guidelines for teaching hearing impaired students (35 p.) / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Globally, hearing impairment remains the most common congenital anomaly diagnosed in infants, and hearing impairment is the single largest disability grouping in South Africa. Growing numbers of students with hearing impairment are being granted access into higher education in South Africa. However, they still remain under-represented in comparison to students with other impairments, and their needs in the teaching and learning environment in terms of human and technical support as well as communication and access to information remain under-supported. This study came into being because of the absence of research on the academic experiences of students with hearing impairment in higher education in South Africa. The intention of the study was to analyse and describe the teaching and learning (academic) experiences of students with hearing impairment at the case study university. This inquiry focused specifically on educational barriers, coping strategies, assistive technologies, curriculum accessibility as well as support services. Using a qualitative case study design, informed by an interpretive (constructivist) paradigm, purposeful sampling led to the selection of information-rich cases in order to gain insight from the authentic experiences of the students. The context of the case study was a South African university with a relatively large number of registered students with hearing impairment who use the oral method of communication. Data were generated by means of semi-structured interviews with participating students, university lecturers and a staff member from the disability unit. ATLAS.ti was used to code and analyse the data using grounded theory methods, allowing for the discovery of recurring themes. Six major findings emerged from this study, namely that all of the participants identified as belonging to the hearing rather than Deaf identity cultural paradigm, that limited curriculum transformation had taken place, existing support services were largely inadequate, a large number of barriers related to teaching and assessment were experienced, a variety of academic and personal coping strategies were used by the students to support their needs, and some critical factors for success were advocated for by the participants. From the findings and data interpretation and by making use of Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological model of human development as a tool, I constructed both an academic learning support framework as well as a set of practical guidelines for teaching students with hearing impairment. Thereafter conclusions were drawn and practical recommendations were made to various stakeholders in the education of students with hearing impairment. Further areas for research are also suggested. The academic learning support framework (as a model of best practice) forms part of my personal contribution to the field of research. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Gehoorgestremdheid is wêreldwyd steeds die algemeenste kongenitale afwyking wat by babas gediagnoseer word, en in Suid-Afrika is die meeste mense met gestremdhede dié met gehoorgestremdhede. Alhoewel ’n toenemende aantal studente met gehoorverlies toegang tot hoër onderwys in Suid-Afrika verkry, is hulle steeds onderverteenwoordig in vergelyking met studente met ander gestremdhede en ontvang hulle steeds min ondersteuning, hetsy menslik of tegnies. Hierdie studie het ontstaan as gevolg van die afwesigheid van navorsing oor die persoonlike ervarings van studente met gehoorgestremdheid in hoër onderwys in Suid-Afrika. Die hoofdoel van hierdie gevallestudie was om vas te stel hoe om hierdie studente akademies te ondersteun ten einde hul tersiêre opvoeding en hul kanse om sukses te behaal en grade te verwerf, te verbeter. Die studie het veral gekyk na die opvoedkundige struikelblokke, hanteringstrategieë, ondersteunende tegnologieë, leerplantoeganklikheid, sowel as onder-steuningsdienste. Die metodologie wat vir hierdie studie gebruik is, was kwalitatief van aard. Die gebruik van doelgerigte steekproefneming het gelei tot die keuse van inligtingryke gevalle ten einde insig in die alledaagse ervarings van die studente te verkry. Die agtergrond van die studie was ʼn universiteit met 'n groot aantal geregistreerde gehoorgestremde studente wat van mondelinge/ouditiewe kommunikasiemetodes gebruik maak. Data is deur middel van semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude met hierdie studente, dosente en 'n personeellid van die eenheid vir gestremdhede gegenereer. Die data is met behulp van ATLAS.ti gekodeer en geanaliseer om die herhalendende temas te bepaal. Die ses belangrikste bevindings uit hierdie studie was dat al die deelnemers hulself met horende studente eerder as met gehoorgestremdes in die samelewing geïdentifiseer het, dat beperkte kurrikulum-transformasie plaasgevind het, dat bestaande ondersteuningsdienste grootliks onvoldoende was, dat die deelnemers ʼn groot aantal struikelblokke met betrekking tot onderrig en assessering ervaar het, dat hulle ʼn verskeidenheid akademiese en persoonlike hanteringstrategieë gebruik het om aan hulle behoeftes te voldoen en dat die kritiese faktore vir sukses deur die deelnemers self bepleit moes word. Uit die bevindinge van hierdie navorsing het die navorser 'n holistiese raamwerk, geïnspireer deur Bronfenbrenner se bio-ekologiese model vir menslike ontwikkeling, vir studente met gehoorgestremdheid in hoër onderwys ontwerp. Gevolgtrekkings is gemaak en praktiese aanbevelings is aan verskeie belanghebbendes wat by die onderrig van studente met gehoorgestremdheid betrokke is, voorgelê. Verdere terreine vir navorsing word ook voorgestel. Die akademiese leerondersteuningsraamwerk (as ’n model van beste praktyk) maak deel uit van my persoonlike bydrae tot die navorsingsveld.