Mildly intellectually disabled (MID) learners, in South Africa, experience a great deal of discrimination. For
the Black MID learner, the situation has been the worst in that even at a time when their white counterparts
received education in separate schools, nothing of the sort existed for them. Most of them found themselves
in ordinary schools, a situation described by many authors as "mainstreaming by default".
The new education dispensation of 1994 brought along with it the need to begin looking at ways in which
these learners are to be accommodated in the education system. However, such accommodation is made
difficult by the fact that teachers are not familiar with ways of catering for diversity in the classrooms.
An investigation was undertaken of the phenomenon mild intellectual disability. The characteristics of these
learners were studied, in order to understand how these characteristics impact on their learning. The teaching
principles and learning principles that make it easier for them to learn were studied. Most of these learners
experience problems with reading, writing and mathematics.
Existing educational programmes in developed and developing countries were examined, together with
aspects of those programmes that might be of use in South Africa. A closer look was taken at provisions for
these learners in South Africa before the new dispensation.
An empirical study was undertaken to investigate what manifestations these learners display, how they are
assisted once they are identified and to establish if teachers receive any support from parents, school
management teams and the Department of Education. Finally, it was investigated if methods used for
Outcomes-Based Education can be used to accommodate MID learners.
Implications were then tabled on three levels, namely, the macro level, which is the provincial level, where
decisions regarding educational policy and legislation for the Province are made, the meso level, which
concerns implementation at the district level, and the micro level, which is the school itself. This level
concerns the teacher's task in the classroom.
Finally, a training manual for school support teams was designed, tested and finalised as a document to be
used in assisting teachers to support MID learners / Early Childhood Education and Development / D. Ed. (Special Needs Education)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/17719 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Sethosa, Mosima Francisca |
| Contributors | Prinsloo, E., Landsberg, Emmerentia |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xvi, 388 leaves) |
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