Within and between the old and the new: Teachers becoming inclusive practitioners
This paper explores how 20 African teachers in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, construct their identities in the light of inclusive education, and how they negotiate the tensions and contradictions emerging from the process of becoming inclusive practitioners. Central to this discussion is the u...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of the Free State
2012-03-01
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| Series: | Perspectives in Education |
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| Online Access: | http://196.255.246.28/index.php/pie/article/view/1733 |
| _version_ | 1797257930026778624 |
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| author | Antoinette D'Amant |
| author_facet | Antoinette D'Amant |
| author_sort | Antoinette D'Amant |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
This paper explores how 20 African teachers in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, construct their identities in the light of inclusive education, and how they negotiate the tensions and contradictions emerging from the process of becoming inclusive practitioners. Central to this discussion is the understanding that teachers’ identities are socially constructed and that radical transformation requires teachers to draw on their transformative capacity and develop an alternative sense of themselves, not only as teachers but also as individuals. A qualitative approach using personal narratives is used to better comprehend the context-specific experiences of these teachers and draw on their authentic voices. What emerges from the study is evidence of the simultaneous existence of both the powerful influence of historic roots of exclusion, which discourage teachers from becoming inclusive practitioners, and some fruits of inclusion, where teachers’ attitudes and practices are beginning to embrace inclusion. Findings clearly show a lack of homogeneity in participants’ responses to inclusion, highlighting instead the diversity which exists within and between individual African teachers in rural contexts.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T22:45:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-193275a1d2e3476bbf14cab55b9df9b0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0258-2236 2519-593X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T22:45:27Z |
| publishDate | 2012-03-01 |
| publisher | University of the Free State |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Perspectives in Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-193275a1d2e3476bbf14cab55b9df9b02024-03-18T11:12:01ZengUniversity of the Free StatePerspectives in Education0258-22362519-593X2012-03-0130110.38140/pie.v30i1.1733Within and between the old and the new: Teachers becoming inclusive practitionersAntoinette D'Amant0University of KwaZulu-Natal This paper explores how 20 African teachers in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, construct their identities in the light of inclusive education, and how they negotiate the tensions and contradictions emerging from the process of becoming inclusive practitioners. Central to this discussion is the understanding that teachers’ identities are socially constructed and that radical transformation requires teachers to draw on their transformative capacity and develop an alternative sense of themselves, not only as teachers but also as individuals. A qualitative approach using personal narratives is used to better comprehend the context-specific experiences of these teachers and draw on their authentic voices. What emerges from the study is evidence of the simultaneous existence of both the powerful influence of historic roots of exclusion, which discourage teachers from becoming inclusive practitioners, and some fruits of inclusion, where teachers’ attitudes and practices are beginning to embrace inclusion. Findings clearly show a lack of homogeneity in participants’ responses to inclusion, highlighting instead the diversity which exists within and between individual African teachers in rural contexts. http://196.255.246.28/index.php/pie/article/view/1733Inclusive educationTransformative capacityIdentityTeachersRural contextWhite Paper 6 |
| spellingShingle | Antoinette D'Amant Within and between the old and the new: Teachers becoming inclusive practitioners Perspectives in Education Inclusive education Transformative capacity Identity Teachers Rural context White Paper 6 |
| title | Within and between the old and the new: Teachers becoming inclusive practitioners |
| title_full | Within and between the old and the new: Teachers becoming inclusive practitioners |
| title_fullStr | Within and between the old and the new: Teachers becoming inclusive practitioners |
| title_full_unstemmed | Within and between the old and the new: Teachers becoming inclusive practitioners |
| title_short | Within and between the old and the new: Teachers becoming inclusive practitioners |
| title_sort | within and between the old and the new teachers becoming inclusive practitioners |
| topic | Inclusive education Transformative capacity Identity Teachers Rural context White Paper 6 |
| url | http://196.255.246.28/index.php/pie/article/view/1733 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT antoinettedamant withinandbetweentheoldandthenewteachersbecominginclusivepractitioners |