This study investigated the acquisition and retention of information presented in the Secondary Instructional/Special Education Project conducted in Chesterfield County, Virginia, Public Schools. A two-group pretest posttest posttest design was used. Retention of information was measured after teachers completed the Inservice Project and returned to the classroom. In addition to the acquisition and retention of information, the relationship of practicability and needs satisfaction to the acquisition and retention of information was investigated. Theoretical practices associated with inservice education were reviewed and presented. Analysis of variance using treatments-by-subjects design was employed to compare the scores on the pretest, posttest I and posttest II for each group. When the F was found to be significant in the analysis of variance, the Duncan's Multiple Range Test was used for making multiple comparisons. The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation was used to determine if there was a significant statistical relationship between information acquired, practicability and needs satisfaction. The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation was also used to examine the statistical relationship between retention and the factors of practicability and needs satisfaction. On-going class assessments and teacher interview data were collected and used in the assessment of practicability and needs satisfaction. The analysis of the data revealed a significant increase in the participants' information about special education as measured by the difference between the scores on the pretest and on posttest I immediately following the completion of the course. Information was retained over time by participants in the follow-up study. For participants, ten months after their training, the data revealed that most of the information was retained as represented by the significant difference between the mean pretest score of 21.60 and the mean posttest II score of 43.07. For participants six months following training there was no significant decrease in information as measured by the difference in scores on posttest I and posttest II. Although no significant statistical relationship was demonstrated between acquisition or retention of information to practicability and needs satisfaction through an analysis of data using the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation, participants interviewed indicated that they had used the information presented in their teaching. They also indicated that the training had affected their teaching and made a difference in their understanding of and work with handicapped children. The interview results were consistent with findings collected throughout the Inservice Project indicating a high level of practicability and usefulness of information. / Ed. D.

The purpose of the project is to construct a handbook for pre-school, elementary and middle school teachers that will provide the information essential in developing an awareness of the signs and symptoms of a traumatic brain related to a ocular motor injury. Also included in the handbook are recommended assessments and accommodations that can be utilized in the management of PTVS.

Thesis (MEd)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In South Africa,' including learners with disabilities has been a concern in education since 1994. With children with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, being increasingly included in mainstream schools, consideration needs to be given to the experiences of teachers in inclusive classrooms. Since an understanding of teachers' experiences can lead to the development of support strategies, this study sets out to explore teachers' experiences. The research design of this research is qualitative in nature and the unit of analysis is an inclusive school in the Western Cape. Data are collected through semistructured interviews, field notes and a review of school records. Interviews are held with three teachers, the school principal, the governing body chairperson (parent) and four learners. The data are analyzed using aspects of the constant comparative analysis. Three main themes, namely school factors, the learner with an intellectual disability and the role of the teachers emerge. Findings indicate that the learner with an intellectual disability can be effectively included if the school community (teachers, parents and learners) is informed and thoroughly prepared. There must also be a willingness on the part of all the role players to make a success of the inclusive process. An analysis of the experiences of teachers in this study indicates that the demands put on teachers and learners alike are challenging and that teachers need support regarding in-service training on specific strategies for successfully including learners with intellectual disabilities. An effective and collaborative support system can also provide teachers with the necessary support to approach inclusive education in a positive manner. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die insluiting van leerders met leergestremdhede is sedert 1994 'n brandpunt in die onderwys in Suid-Afrika. Aangesien kinders met gestremdhede, waaronder ook intellektuele gestremdhede, al hoe meer in hoofstroomskole ingesluit word, moet aandag geskenk word aan die ervarings van onderwysers in sulke inklusiewe klaskamers. Hierdie studie poog om die relevante ervarings van onderwysers te ontgin, aangesien 'n analise van sulke onderwyserservarings kan lei tot die ontwikkeling van ondersteuningstrategieë. Die navorsingsontwerp van hierdie studie is kwalitatief van aard, en die analiseeenheid is 'n inklusiewe skool in die Weskaap. Data is versamel deur middel van semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude, veldnotas en 'n oorsig van skoolrekords. Onderhoude is gevoer met drie onderwysers, die skoolhoof, die voorsitter van die beheerliggaam ('n ouer), asook vier leerders. Die data is geanaliseer deur aspekte van die 'constant comparative analysis' te gebruik. Drie temas, nl. skoolfaktore, die leerder met intellektuele gestremdhede, en die rol van die onderwysers, kom duidelik na vore. Die bevindinge bewys dat 'n leerder met intellektuele gestremdhede effektief ingesluit kan word in 'n hoofstroomskool, indien die skoolgemeenskap (onderwysers, ouers en leerders) ingelig en deeglik voorberei word. AI die rolspelers moet ook 'n gewilligheid openbaar om die inklusiewe proses suksesvol te maak. Die analise van die ervarings van onderwysers wat in hierdie studie gebruik is, maak dit duidelik dat die eise wat aan beide onderwysers en leerders gestel word, formidabel is; en dat onderwysers ondersteuning nodig het wat betref indiens-opleiding m.b.t. spesifieke strategieë vir die suksesvolle insluiting van leerders met intellektuele gestremdhede. 'n Effektiewe en onderling-ondersteunende sisteem kan ook die onderwyser van die nodige

After the first democratic elections in 1994 the South African government was faced with the enormous challenge of blending a sophisticated First World education system for the minority with an underdeveloped Third World education system for the majority. The government committed itself to the principles of an inclusive education approach in order to provide equal quality education for all learners. The focus of the inclusive education will be to provide education for all learners (not only for the disabled) who for one or more reasons were discriminated against under the previous education policy. The aim of this study was to investigate the educators’ perceptions and experiences of inclusive education in schools where it is being implemented in Pietermaritzburg. The study also looked at the nature of concerns and attitudes held by these educators. Both a literature and empirical study were executed. The quantitative and qualitative approaches were used and data were collected by semi-structures questionnaires administered to thirty educators from schools where inclusive education is being implemented. Quantitative data was analysed using the descriptive statistics. A thematic analysis technique was used to analyse qualitative data. The results were presented against the central themes that emerged and include: inclusive education is challenging by its very nature; negative attitude towards inclusive education and learners with barriers to learning; negative perception towards adapting the curriculum to learners with barriers to learning; availability / lack of resources and support needed in inclusive classrooms; areas of needs in working with learners with barriers to learning; and many learners’ needs are not being met, while educators’ workload and stress have increased. A general sense of negativity was found with regard to the educators’ perceptions and attitudes towards inclusive education. They indicated that they were not well prepared for inclusive education. Recommendations were made to facilitate improving the preparedness or readiness of the educators, for inclusive education in inclusive schools in the Pietermaritzburg area. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

Thesis (Ph. D. (Educational Psychology) -- University of Pretoria, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D. (Educational Psychology) -- University of Pretoria, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1995. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 5, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Paula J. Smith (chair), Mack L. Bowen, Norma C. DeMario, Ronald S. Halinski, Mark E. Swerdlik. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-77) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1997. / Title from title page screen, viewed June 7, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Toni McCarty, Lanny Morreau (co-chairs), Kenneth Strand, Ming-Gon John Lian. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-88) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / Caring for children with intellectual disability often results in stressful experiences for caregivers, even leading to crises in some cases. The aim of the present study was to explore the lived experiences of teachers of intellectually disabled learners in three special schools in Capricorn District, Limpopo Province. The study sought to determine teachers’ understanding of intellectual disability, the challenges they face in working with such children, and the psychological strategies they use to deal with intellectually disabled learners. The study was qualitative in nature. The sample consisted of 9 participants (male=0; females=9) working with intellectually disabled learners in special schools who were selected through a non-probability purposive sampling technique. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using the interpretive phenomenological analysis. An understanding of intellectual disability as denoting deficits in such learners’ brains, preventing their optimum functioning was common. The findings of the study show that the experience of teachers of children with intellectual disability was fairly positive. It was characterised by feelings of fulfilment and contentment. Nonetheless, challenges such as burn out, stigma and lack of parental and government support were also revealed in the study. Essentially, the study recommends workshops on effective coping strategies for the teachers, and public awareness campaigns in communities about intellectual disability, amongst others.

Thesis (MEd (Specialised Education))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The site for the study is a Western Cape school for industry that became a school of skills in 1999. According to the S.A. National Association for Specialised Education (SANASE) (2001:1), a school of skills, also referred to as a special school, caters for intellectually mildly disabled learners (IMD learners) who are characterised by their poor scholastic abilities in reading, writing and arithmetic skills, low self-esteem, poor self-concept, lack of motivation to study and their inability to cope with academically orientated work. These would be learners who were previously in mainstream schools but whose learning difficulties resulted in their being placed at special schools. These learners pose particular challenges to their school environments, and teachers who work with such special needs learners require specialised training to equip them for their tasks. Teachers at schools of skills, however, generally have no additional training. This study had as focus teachers' understanding of their roles at a school of skills. This study uses an ecosystemic approach within an interpretive research framework to obtain in-depth data on teachers' understanding of the learners' learning needs and the concomitant challenges to classroom learning and their teaching. It also explored teachers' interpretations of their professional positioning amidst the demands posed by an outcomes-based curriculum. The study found that, despite ongoing in-service training initiatives, teachers insist that they need learner-specific guidance as they were incapable of providing suitable learning to their learners. They believe that their learners will need life-long learning support. Such beliefs create barriers to successful learning and can also marginalize learners, preventing them from being part of the mainstream of community life. The study found that the successful implementation of inclusive classroom learning is left largely to teachers' personal initiative. Although some teachers achieved positive results, the majority of teachers at the site failed to provide successful learning. It seems that learning success at schools of skill is dependent on positive teacher expectations of learners learning.