The problem of this study was to ascertain the status of Texas secondary school industrial arts programs in regard to serving physically handicapped students and to analyze the attitudes of industrial arts teachers toward the physically handicapped students in industrial arts classes. The purposes of this study were, (1) to describe the nature and extent of participation by industrial arts programs in Texas secondary schools in complying with federal and state laws concerning the education of handicapped children, and (2) to acquire and interpret information which may be included in college courses for preparing industrial arts teachers and/or in-service programs for industrial arts teachers. Among the major findings revealed by an analysis of the data are the following. 1. Of the 366 industrial arts teachers surveyed, 86 per cent had no pre-service courses and 79 per cent had no in-service instruction concerning handicapped students; however, 67 per cent had experience teaching physically handicapped students. 2. Of the 37,659 students who were served by 355 industrial arts teachers during the 1977-78 school year, 727, or 2 per cent, were physically handicapped; 171 students were in separate special classes and 566 were integrated into regular classes. 3. Of the 727 physically handicapped students, 47 per cent attended senior high schools; 87 per cent attended schools with an enrollment of over 550 students; 83 per cent were in an urban or suburban educational setting; and the four predominate industrial arts areas in which they were enrolled are, in order: Drafting, Woodworking, General Shop, and Metalworking. 4. The attitudes of industrial arts teachers toward physically handicapped students and the attitudes of industrial arts teachers toward the integration of physically handicapped students were slightly positive. The industrial arts teachers' attitude toward the potential success of physically handicapped students in the world of work was positive. The industrial arts teachers' assessment of their own competencies to teach physically handicapped students was neither positive nor negative. 5. The attitudes of the industrial arts teachers were not significantly influenced by their age, education, teaching experience, type of school organization, type of educational setting or total enrollment of the schools in which they taught. Female teachers and teachers with experience in teaching physically handicapped students were significantly more positive in their attitudes toward the physically handicapped.

This study was aimed to explore challenges of students with disabilities in higher education institutions in Namibia, as narrated and illustrated by themselves. Mixed methodologies, with specific reference to a small-scale quantitative survey and extensive qualitative design were employed as tools to understand the prevalence, extent and nature of challenges of students with disabilities in their pursuance of higher education in Namibia. Data was thus collected in two phases. The first phase consisted of a ten-item quantitative-survey which was largely used to determine the prevalence of students with disabilities in higher education institutions, and basic information regarding institutional standpoints pertaining to students with disabilities. Data acquired through this survey confirmed the prevalence of students with disabilities in Namibian higher education institutions. The second phase represented the qualitative design whereby data was collected through three main methodologies namely a narrative diary-based approach, a photo-voice and individual interviews. These methodologies ensured reliability of the data through triangulation. The study confirmed that inclusive education at the higher education level in Namibia was largely achieved through the goal of access, as all higher education institutions have admitted students with observable as well as hidden disabilities. However, a major finding of the study was that support and provision for students with disabilities was rendered in fragmented portions within and across institutions, and that the goals of equity and equality have not yet been achieved to the desired degree, if inclusive education was to become a reality for students with disabilities in higher education in Namibia. Students reported challenges related to physical accessibility of institutions; unavailability of educational material in alternative, as opposed to traditional formats; lack of sensitivity and skills of staff; as well as lack of structured support systems. The study also revealed that, notwithstanding the challenges students faced in their institutions, students with disabilities continued to perform their academic duties to the best of their abilities and were driven by their individual personal philosophies, many of which spoke of perseverance and courage, to make a success of their studies. / D. Ed. (Inclusive Education) / Language Education Arts and Culture

Little information is available on future vocational preparation for intellectually disabled learners in South African schools. Currently teachers adapt the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) to educate these learners. A literature study was conducted to investigate relevant models in the United States of America in order to develop a framework for a South African vocational training and transition planning programme in the school. Various South African vocational training programmes designed for disabled learners with good literacy and numeracy skills, the role of employment agencies and the local employment possibilities for intellectually disabled people were investigated to assess their suitability for intellectually disabled learners. An Individualised Vocational Programme that involves the parents and their child(ren) was developed to suit the needs of intellectually disabled learners. The RNCS was adapted by means of curriculum straddling and designing down to make the learning material suitable for intellectually disabled learners. The full programme consisted of an adapted interest test, curriculum training, the placement of learners in school jobs/tasks and a home independence programme, The programme was implemented and a mixed method research design facilitated the case study done in a school for severely intellectually disabled learners. Findings revealed that a vocational training and transition planning programme in the school can be managed successfully to the benefit of the parents, learners and the Department of Education. Based on the findings recommendations were made to improve the various sections of the comprehensive programme. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Educational Management)

The purpose of the study was to determine if occupational investigation teachers and vocational administrators held similar or differing attitudes toward the occupational investigation courses in relation to the mainstreamed handicapped students they served. The following conclusions were warranted from the findings of the analyses of the data. Findings derived from multiple T tests indicate that occupational investigation teachers perceive all survey item statements concerning Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) meetings and the content of Individual Education Programs (IEPs) as occurring to a significantly lesser degree than do vocational administrators. There is no significant discrepancy in their perceptions toward the current practices of occupational investigation teacher training, student assessment, classroom accessibility, course content, or special education assistance described in the survey items. The results of the multiple T tests indicate that there are no significant differences between the attitudes and perceptions of occupational investigation teachers and vocational administrators in Texas toward the future of any of the conditions reflected in the survey items. Teachers and administrators agree that all of the current conditions reflected by the items should be promoted to a higher degree in the future. The results of the multiple T tests indicate a high degree of significance in the disparity between teachers and administrators with regard to their attitudes toward the amount of change and the degree of improvement in the conditions in the survey item statements reflecting ARD committee meetings and the uses of IEPs. However, no significant disparity was found between their perceptions of the difference between the current practice and the optimum condition for items illustrating teacher training, classroom accessibility, course content, student assessment, or special education assistance.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:33:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristiana Beatrice Lykouropoulos.pdf: 1001052 bytes, checksum: 3dde4c4d558be0c3bf82ace067ed911f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-09-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The present study focuses on the politics of handicapped students inclusion in the schools of the Municipal General office of Education of Maceió-AL, as well as its incorporation by schools from this teaching net. The aim of this work was, firstly, to analyze the politics of handicapped students inclusion in ordinary classes, in the period of the Political-pedagogic Project Pluriannual Plan 2001/2004 , through analysis of documents, statistic data about the handicapped students' situation assisted by that teaching net and of the reports of members from the Department of Special Education. The data was collected from 2001 to 2006, because the Pluriannual Plan, which would have finished in 2004, continued until 2006. Secondly, the way those politics have been appropriated for schools was investigated, through school documents and reports of directors, technical team and teachers from two municipal primary teaching schools. The hypotheses that orientated the investigations were: a) the handicapped students' access and permanence, how these actions are being conducted in the politics of school inclusion, covering the selective character of the Brazilian school; and b) the characteristics of the schools and the way the school teams appropriate from the proposals, and the political actions empower in a different way the implantation of the inclusion. Hutmacher s (1995) and Cury s (1998) contributions concerning the analyses of the government laws and the school appropriation of them, Bourdieu s findings (1998) related to the force of the representations legitimated by an authority referendum, and indicators pointed by Bueno and collab. (2004) in the field of the politics of special education supplied theoretical elements and analysis perspectives that orientated this research. The main discoveries were that, although the access is legally guaranteed, the data do not necessarily confirm it and the objective conditions of permanence are far away from be contemplated with satisfactory results of the handicapped students' education. The configuration of the school organization and the changes in the pedagogic processes assumed different shapes in each of the researched schools, because of the different appropriation ways each school had of the politics, however, the hegemonic representations were a strong condition of those appropriations / O presente estudo tem como foco as políticas de inclusão de alunos com deficiência na rede de ensino da Secretaria Municipal de Educação de Maceió-AL, bem como a sua incorporação por escolas dessa rede. O objetivo foi, de um lado, analisar as políticas de inclusão de alunos com deficiência em classes comuns, no período de vigência do Projeto Político-Pedagógico Plano Plurianual 2001/2004, por meio de análise de documentos, de dados estatísticos sobre a situação dos alunos com deficiência atendidos por essa rede e do relato de membros do Departamento de Educação Especial. Os dados coletados se circunscreveram ao período de 2001 a 2006, na medida em que o Plano Plurianual, que teria sua vigência até 2004, permaneceu em vigor até o ano de 2006. De outro lado, foram investigadas as formas pelas quais essas políticas têm sido apropriadas por escolas, por meio de documentos escolares e por relatos de dirigentes, equipe técnica e professores de duas escolas de ensino fundamental da rede municipal. As hipóteses que nortearam as investigações foram: a) o acesso e a permanência dos alunos com deficiência, da forma como vêm sendo operacionalizados a partir das políticas de inclusão escolar, acobertam o caráter seletivo da escola brasileira; e b) as características das escolas e a forma como as equipes escolares se apropriam das propostas e ações políticas potencializam de modo diferente a implantação da inclusão. As contribuições de Hutmacher (1995) e Cury (1998) no tocante às análises das normas governamentais e sua apropriação pelas escolas, de Bourdieu (1998) em relação à força das representações legitimadas por um referendo de autoridade e dos indicadores apontados por Bueno e col. (2004) no campo das políticas de educação especial forneceram elementos teóricos e de perspectivas de análise que nortearam esta pesquisa. Os principais achados foram que, embora o acesso esteja legalmente garantido, os dados não necessariamente o confirmam e as condições objetivas de permanência estão longe de serem contempladas com resultados satisfatórios de escolarização dos alunos com deficiência. A configuração da organização escolar e as mudanças nos processos pedagógicos assumiram formatos distintos em cada uma das escolas pesquisadas, em razão das diferentes formas de apropriação que cada uma delas fez das políticas, entretanto, as representações hegemônicas foram um forte condicionante dessas apropriações

Little information is available on future vocational preparation for intellectually disabled learners in South African schools. Currently teachers adapt the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) to educate these learners. A literature study was conducted to investigate relevant models in the United States of America in order to develop a framework for a South African vocational training and transition planning programme in the school. Various South African vocational training programmes designed for disabled learners with good literacy and numeracy skills, the role of employment agencies and the local employment possibilities for intellectually disabled people were investigated to assess their suitability for intellectually disabled learners. An Individualised Vocational Programme that involves the parents and their child(ren) was developed to suit the needs of intellectually disabled learners. The RNCS was adapted by means of curriculum straddling and designing down to make the learning material suitable for intellectually disabled learners. The full programme consisted of an adapted interest test, curriculum training, the placement of learners in school jobs/tasks and a home independence programme, The programme was implemented and a mixed method research design facilitated the case study done in a school for severely intellectually disabled learners. Findings revealed that a vocational training and transition planning programme in the school can be managed successfully to the benefit of the parents, learners and the Department of Education. Based on the findings recommendations were made to improve the various sections of the comprehensive programme. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Educational Management)