Unisa online - Realising their dreams

Mrs Dikeledi Mahlo and Mrs Jacomina Motitswe

Mrs Dikeledi (FD) Mahlo and Mrs Jacomina (JMC) Motitswe, under the supervision of Prof Hugo and Prof MW Maila respectively, both realised their dreams of graduating this year. Dikeledi will be graduating as a Dr in Education and Jacomina will be receiving her master’s degree. They are looking forward to the graduation ceremony to be held in June.

Their studies focused on the support available for Learning Support Teachers working in the Foundation phase. The policy of Inclusive Education (IE) in White Paper 6 (2001) acknowledges that all children can learn with support. The aim of Dikeledi’s doctoral research was to explore the experiences of Learning Support Teachers (LSTs) in supporting Foundation Phase teachers in implementing IE in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. Jacomina studied the teaching and learning methods used in inclusive classrooms in the Foundation Phase.

A lack of support for teachers and learners in IE has dominated current discussions on education. According to the Department of Education, the establishment of an IE system in schools would require appropriate district as well as institution level support services, and more than just accepting learners with different learning needs in mainstream classrooms. Many teachers have not had the benefit of being trained to teach learners who experience barriers to learning, hence, most find it difficult. Although specialist teachers in the form of LSTs have been employed in the Foundation Phase to fill that gap and assist classroom teachers, the learners are not receiving the assistance that was expected.

Based on an assumption that the failings may largely be systemic, this study therefore uses Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and a qualitative research design to examine the implementation of IE in selected schools, with seven LSTs being interviewed and observed, while documents pertaining to the support rendered were analysed. Seven principals and seven classroom teachers were also interviewed. The analysis employed Creswell’s method and the findings highlighted factors affecting the implementation of IE. The factors include inadequate district support, socio-cultural issues, classroom and management factors, lack of resources and inadequate collaboration between the stakeholders. The study makes recommendations and suggests further areas of research.

The South African government introduced full-service schools to provide quality education to all learners through flexibility to meet the full range of learning needs. Full-service schools are institutions that strive to transform themselves, proactively addressing the barriers to learning and increasing participation of the learners and educators in the teaching and learning process. This can be achieved by enhancing the flexibility of teaching and learning methods used. This study therefore focused on the teaching and learning methods used in inclusive classrooms to accommodate diversity. This was a case study that was conducted in the Bojanala Region in the North West Province.