Exploring the perceptions of lecturers and final year students about the infusion of inclusion in initial teacher education programmes in South Africa
IntroductionSouth Africa embraced the move to inclusive education after the political transformation in 1994 by partaking in and subscribing to the international Education for All (EFA) drive initiated in 1990 at the Jomtien World Conference on Education for All, which declared that all children, yo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Education |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1024054/full |
| _version_ | 1811161583214133248 |
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| author | Mirna Nel Johnnie Hay Tanya Bekker Christa Beyers Nicky Pylman Gregg Alexander Sheila Matoti |
| author_facet | Mirna Nel Johnnie Hay Tanya Bekker Christa Beyers Nicky Pylman Gregg Alexander Sheila Matoti |
| author_sort | Mirna Nel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionSouth Africa embraced the move to inclusive education after the political transformation in 1994 by partaking in and subscribing to the international Education for All (EFA) drive initiated in 1990 at the Jomtien World Conference on Education for All, which declared that all children, youth and adults should receive a basic education. Furthermore, the Salamanca Statement of 1994 the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) of 2006 and the Sustainable Development Goal 4 are internationally regarded as the most important influence on the transformation of education systems to become more inclusive and consequently continue to have an important influence on education policies and practices in South Africa. The key policy driving inclusive education in South Africa is Education White Paper 6 (EWP6). EWP6 affirms that teachers play a central role in implementing an inclusive education system. Therefore, training is emphasized as a key strategy to enable educators to become more inclusive in their teaching practices. The focus of this article is on Initial Teacher Education (ITE) for inclusion. Influenced by international developments to transform ITE programmes and the national endorsement of inclusive education the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) embarked on a project called the Teaching and Learning Capacity Development Improvement Project (TLCDIP). The project reported on in this article was one facet of the TLCDIP and focused specifically on teacher education for inclusion in the Foundation (Reception to Grade 3) and Intermediate Phases (Grade 4 to 6) of the Baccalaureus Educationis (B Ed) programme.MethodsThe primary research aim was: To explore the perceptions of final year students and their lecturers in ITE programmes regarding the preparation of pre-service teachers for teaching in inclusive and diverse learning environments. A qualitative research approach was employed to gain in-depth and rich data. Purposive sampling was used including final year students and their lecturers. Open questionnaires and group interviews were employed as data generation strategies.ResultsAn inductive thematic analysis showed that the following themes were identified by the participants as critical to be considered in the development and implementation of ITE programmes: Understanding inclusive education, which is also linked to knowledge; the disconnect between theory and practice, the lack of knowledge and practical experience regarding inclusive teaching strategies and how inclusion is addressed in the B Ed curriculum. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T06:16:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ccc511ca44324db5b2b90c4736e8d29e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-284X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T06:16:40Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-ccc511ca44324db5b2b90c4736e8d29e2023-03-02T06:51:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2023-03-01810.3389/feduc.2023.10240541024054Exploring the perceptions of lecturers and final year students about the infusion of inclusion in initial teacher education programmes in South AfricaMirna Nel0Johnnie Hay1Tanya Bekker2Christa Beyers3Nicky Pylman4Gregg Alexander5Sheila Matoti6Faculty of Humanities, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South AfricaFaculty of Education, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South AfricaSchool of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South AfricaFaculty of Education, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, Free State, South AfricaFaculty of Education, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South AfricaFaculty of Education, Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein, Free State, South AfricaFaculty of Education, Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein, Free State, South AfricaIntroductionSouth Africa embraced the move to inclusive education after the political transformation in 1994 by partaking in and subscribing to the international Education for All (EFA) drive initiated in 1990 at the Jomtien World Conference on Education for All, which declared that all children, youth and adults should receive a basic education. Furthermore, the Salamanca Statement of 1994 the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) of 2006 and the Sustainable Development Goal 4 are internationally regarded as the most important influence on the transformation of education systems to become more inclusive and consequently continue to have an important influence on education policies and practices in South Africa. The key policy driving inclusive education in South Africa is Education White Paper 6 (EWP6). EWP6 affirms that teachers play a central role in implementing an inclusive education system. Therefore, training is emphasized as a key strategy to enable educators to become more inclusive in their teaching practices. The focus of this article is on Initial Teacher Education (ITE) for inclusion. Influenced by international developments to transform ITE programmes and the national endorsement of inclusive education the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) embarked on a project called the Teaching and Learning Capacity Development Improvement Project (TLCDIP). The project reported on in this article was one facet of the TLCDIP and focused specifically on teacher education for inclusion in the Foundation (Reception to Grade 3) and Intermediate Phases (Grade 4 to 6) of the Baccalaureus Educationis (B Ed) programme.MethodsThe primary research aim was: To explore the perceptions of final year students and their lecturers in ITE programmes regarding the preparation of pre-service teachers for teaching in inclusive and diverse learning environments. A qualitative research approach was employed to gain in-depth and rich data. Purposive sampling was used including final year students and their lecturers. Open questionnaires and group interviews were employed as data generation strategies.ResultsAn inductive thematic analysis showed that the following themes were identified by the participants as critical to be considered in the development and implementation of ITE programmes: Understanding inclusive education, which is also linked to knowledge; the disconnect between theory and practice, the lack of knowledge and practical experience regarding inclusive teaching strategies and how inclusion is addressed in the B Ed curriculum.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1024054/fullinclusioninitial teacher educationB.Ed programmeSouth Africaperceptions |
| spellingShingle | Mirna Nel Johnnie Hay Tanya Bekker Christa Beyers Nicky Pylman Gregg Alexander Sheila Matoti Exploring the perceptions of lecturers and final year students about the infusion of inclusion in initial teacher education programmes in South Africa Frontiers in Education inclusion initial teacher education B.Ed programme South Africa perceptions |
| title | Exploring the perceptions of lecturers and final year students about the infusion of inclusion in initial teacher education programmes in South Africa |
| title_full | Exploring the perceptions of lecturers and final year students about the infusion of inclusion in initial teacher education programmes in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the perceptions of lecturers and final year students about the infusion of inclusion in initial teacher education programmes in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the perceptions of lecturers and final year students about the infusion of inclusion in initial teacher education programmes in South Africa |
| title_short | Exploring the perceptions of lecturers and final year students about the infusion of inclusion in initial teacher education programmes in South Africa |
| title_sort | exploring the perceptions of lecturers and final year students about the infusion of inclusion in initial teacher education programmes in south africa |
| topic | inclusion initial teacher education B.Ed programme South Africa perceptions |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1024054/full |
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