Systemic barriers: the challenges in the provision of inclusive school libraries in Malaysia

Special Education Needs (SEN) students who have difficulties in learning have traditionally been marginalized within or even excluded from the school libraries. To explore the practices of the school library media service provision and programmes conducted for SEN students in the mainstream schools...

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Main Authors: Abrizah, Abdullah, Ahmad, R.
Format: Article
Published: Faculty of Computer Science & Information Technology, University of Malaya. 2010
Subjects:
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author Abrizah, Abdullah
Ahmad, R.
author_facet Abrizah, Abdullah
Ahmad, R.
author_sort Abrizah, Abdullah
collection UM
description Special Education Needs (SEN) students who have difficulties in learning have traditionally been marginalized within or even excluded from the school libraries. To explore the practices of the school library media service provision and programmes conducted for SEN students in the mainstream schools and understand conditions that may facilitate or deter the provision of an inclusive school library in a Malaysian setting, a total of 24 participants comprising special educators, teacher librarians and students with disabilities were interviewed. The study found that although examples of good practice of school library services and programmes were found, there is need for improvement in service delivery to SEN students. Much of this could be achieved by enhanced communication and cooperation between teacher librarians and special educators. The analysis suggests six barriers in the provision of inclusive school libraries: physical, resources, curriculum, policy, unintentional and intentional attitudinal barrier. The paper concludes with a consideration of possible strategies for improvements in provision of inclusive school libraries. It is hoped that the results will stimulate and encourage moves to create more effective and inclusive library arrangements for students with disabilities.
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spelling um.eprints-126562019-12-06T09:23:29Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/12656/ Systemic barriers: the challenges in the provision of inclusive school libraries in Malaysia Abrizah, Abdullah Ahmad, R. Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources Special Education Needs (SEN) students who have difficulties in learning have traditionally been marginalized within or even excluded from the school libraries. To explore the practices of the school library media service provision and programmes conducted for SEN students in the mainstream schools and understand conditions that may facilitate or deter the provision of an inclusive school library in a Malaysian setting, a total of 24 participants comprising special educators, teacher librarians and students with disabilities were interviewed. The study found that although examples of good practice of school library services and programmes were found, there is need for improvement in service delivery to SEN students. Much of this could be achieved by enhanced communication and cooperation between teacher librarians and special educators. The analysis suggests six barriers in the provision of inclusive school libraries: physical, resources, curriculum, policy, unintentional and intentional attitudinal barrier. The paper concludes with a consideration of possible strategies for improvements in provision of inclusive school libraries. It is hoped that the results will stimulate and encourage moves to create more effective and inclusive library arrangements for students with disabilities. Faculty of Computer Science & Information Technology, University of Malaya. 2010 Article PeerReviewed Abrizah, Abdullah and Ahmad, R. (2010) Systemic barriers: the challenges in the provision of inclusive school libraries in Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, 15 (2). pp. 19-40.
spellingShingle Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources
Abrizah, Abdullah
Ahmad, R.
Systemic barriers: the challenges in the provision of inclusive school libraries in Malaysia
title Systemic barriers: the challenges in the provision of inclusive school libraries in Malaysia
title_full Systemic barriers: the challenges in the provision of inclusive school libraries in Malaysia
title_fullStr Systemic barriers: the challenges in the provision of inclusive school libraries in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Systemic barriers: the challenges in the provision of inclusive school libraries in Malaysia
title_short Systemic barriers: the challenges in the provision of inclusive school libraries in Malaysia
title_sort systemic barriers the challenges in the provision of inclusive school libraries in malaysia
topic Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources
work_keys_str_mv AT abrizahabdullah systemicbarriersthechallengesintheprovisionofinclusiveschoollibrariesinmalaysia
AT ahmadr systemicbarriersthechallengesintheprovisionofinclusiveschoollibrariesinmalaysia