The research study responded to the need for a deeper understanding of the engagement of foundation phase teachers with learners in our ordinary, public, primary school classrooms in South Africa and the extent to which classroom practices are inclusive.
To examine how inclusive education was enacted by teachers in real classroom settings, with attention paid to ways in which learners experience barriers to learning and the provision of necessary support for these learners.
This study provides an in-depth critical analysis of the engagement of three foundation phase teachers from classes in each of Grades 1–3, with learners in their classrooms at an Eastern Cape public school.
A micro-level analysis was conducted in a single unit case study, using a qualitative research approach in an interpretive paradigm. Questionnaires, in-depth observations and semi-structured interviews generates in-depth data.
The study provides evidence of inclusive education practices enacted at the school and in the classrooms, providing examples of what can work in the South African context. It includes an organisational tool for analysing inclusive practice at the micro-level of the classroom. Criteria were identified as indicators of inclusive education of learners in the classroom, including those experiencing barriers to learning.
The three foundation phase teachers used numerous inclusive teaching and learning practices, strategies, features, skills and techniques when engaging with learners in their classrooms. There remain various challenges faced by the school, teachers and the Department of Basic Education in enabling the implementation of inclusive education.
Teachers in South Africa have been attempting to practice inclusive education in schools for over 18 years, ever since the introduction of an inclusive system and the issuing of the Education White Paper 6: Special Needs Education by the South African Department of Basic Education, in 2001 (DoE
Strong arguments have been made, however, for more research on actual school and teacher engagement with learners, including learners experiencing barriers to learning, in ordinary, public school classrooms, and on the extent to which classroom practices are inclusive (Engelbrecht et al.
Recommendations have been made for future research by Davis, Florian and Ainscow (
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Walton (
The larger study (Skae
Summary of research questions and sub-goals.
Research question | Sub-goal |
---|---|
What is the contextual background and characterisation of the school in terms of the educational inclusivity of its learners? | To generate rich data to investigate and understand the commitment of the school and principal to inclusive education. |
What do the foundation phase teachers understand of inclusive education in the school and classroom? | To generate rich data to investigate and understand the commitment of the teachers to inclusive education. |
What types of barriers to learning (intrinsic and extrinsic) have teachers identified as being experienced by learners in their classrooms? | To generate rich data to investigate and understand the class composition of learners with barriers to learning. |
What, if any, are the challenges experienced by the foundation phase teachers in the implementation of inclusive education in their classrooms? | To investigate the implication of data for guiding inclusive education policy and practice. |
A theoretically informed organisational tool for the analysis of classroom process was developed for this work (Skae
This article contributes towards closing the research gap relating to the classroom implementation of inclusive education. It presents the micro-level tool developed in this research. It then shows the results of using it to analyse the inclusive classroom practices of the participant teachers in the Baobab School. Finally, several factors constraining and enabling inclusive teaching practices in the school are then identified, based on these results.
White Paper 6 (DoE
An inclusive classroom ensures that all learners participate within an effective learning environment (Rose & Howley
Foundation phase classrooms are particularly important because it is at this phase that the fundamentals and groundwork of learners’ education and development are laid down, including intellectual, mental, emotional, physical and social development (eds. Makoelle & Van der Merwe
Florian (
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Inclusive education importantly should, therefore, include those learners experiencing both intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to learning, where these learners ‘continue to be taught by the regular teacher in the regular classroom, but receive appropriate support’ (eds. Makoelle & Van der Merwe
All learners have specific individual learning needs and it is the responsibility of an inclusive school to recognise and accommodate this diversity, which would include the elimination of barriers to learning inherent in the system itself (eds. Engelbrecht & Green
According to Prinsloo (
Beattie, Jordan and Algozzine (
Teachers require pre-service and ongoing, supportive in-service professional training in inclusive education and the identification and minimisation of barriers to learning to emotionally facilitate them and help develop their confidence, competence and a positive attitude (Swart et al.
Parents need to be willing to devote time, resources and sacrifices to ensure that their children receive the education to which they are entitled (Donohue & Bornman
Teacher’s attitudes would be more positive if, along with training, they received appropriate professional support for working with learners experiencing barriers to learning, such as support from professional personnel, special equipment and educational resources, accommodations and teacher aids in the classroom to assist with learners with disabilities (Donohue & Bornman
Okeke et al. (
… gear every method, every means of instruction, and every learning strategy towards ensuring that every learner, regardless of disability, socio-economic status, linguistic and cultural background, and regardless of competence in the language of learning and teaching, is able to acquire as much knowledge as possible, and to experience educational success, friendship, and a genuine sense of belonging to the learning community. (p. 219)
In keeping with these two main aims for teachers, Okeke et al. (
Numerous studies have indicated the importance of the teacher’s positive attitude for successful inclusion (Swart et al.
Beattie et al. (
Davis et al. (
The early identification and intervention of learners experiencing barriers to learning helps ensure that interventions for the learners start as early as possible to attempt to prevent the development of more extensive problems in these learners (eds. Landsberg, Krűger & Nel
Collaborative cooperative teaching occurs when ‘two or more education role-players enter a collaborative relationship as co-equal partners’, bringing their own knowledge and experience to the partnership to support learners experiencing barriers to learning (Pienaar & Raymond
Bruner (
Differentiated instruction is ‘a way of teaching and learning that allows teachers to accommodate the needs of learners with differing abilities in the same class’, whereby ‘teachers structure their teaching so that it fits the diverse interests, abilities and experiences of learners in the class’ (Pienaar & Raymond
Cooperative learning involves learners working together in pairs or groups in problem-solving and other educational activities to facilitate learning, whilst at the same time building social relationship skills, such as listening skills, decision-making skills and respecting individual differences (Pienaar & Raymond
Accommodations and modifications to instructional materials and assessment measures are specific techniques that provide teachers with the means of meeting the unique needs of learners experiencing barriers to learning (Beattie et al.
The researcher was interested in observing if any of the above-mentioned inclusive teaching and learning practices, strategies, features, skills and techniques were being used in the three foundation phase classrooms.
Guided by the primary research goal and question, a qualitative case study method with an interpretive orientation was adopted. One no-fee paying, public, primary school in the Eastern Cape (Quintile 3) was selected and three foundation phase English medium teachers at the school, each in Grades 1–3, were invited to participate in the study. The researcher decided to focus on the narrow unit of study of one school because of the complexity of the study topic and the depth of data needed to be collected from the classroom (Yin
The researcher chose to study the foundation phase classrooms at the school, because of the importance of this phase in ensuring that learners receive a good foundational level of education. It was decided to enter the three English-medium foundation phase classrooms so as to not require an interpreter or translator, as the researcher was not proficient in the other two teachings and learning languages at the school (Afrikaans and isiXhosa). Observing the English-medium classrooms would provide the researcher with the rich data required for the research, especially amongst learners not learning in their home language. Pienaar and Raymond (
Questionnaires, in-depth interviews and observations were used to explore and describe the units of analysis, to provide multiple sources of information rich in context (De Vos et al.
The research was carried out in four phases:
First phase: Critical review of the questionnaire.
Second phase: With the informed consent of the teachers of Grades 1, 2 and 3, they were initially asked to complete a questionnaire. The teachers were then interviewed on a one-to-one basis to generate a deeper understanding of the teacher and her class. Finally, the teachers were observed in their respective classrooms for one morning each to see first-hand the interactions of the teacher with her learners in the classroom.
Third phase: The Grade 2 teacher volunteered to have a full week of further observations in her classroom to provide more in-depth observations.
Fourth phase: Follow-up interviews with the Grade 1, 2 and 3 teachers.
The responses to the questionnaires from the three teachers were collated into one spreadsheet so that their answers could be readily and easily compared and analysed.
The audio- and video-recordings from the interviews and observations were transcribed and, once again, the data collected from the three foundation phase teachers and their classes were collated to compare and analyse the information received. The responses from the interviews were categorised under intrinsic and extrinsic factors, as well as additional factors. Also, notes were made of the ‘stories’ told by teachers about learners in their classes experiencing barriers to learning, what barriers they were experiencing, what support they needed, what support they were receiving and what difficulties were being experienced in meeting some of their needs.
The author (Skae
Micro-level web: The inclusive classroom.
In the organisational tool, the inclusive classroom, with the teachers and their learners, is depicted as a micro-level web, which could ‘attach’ comfortably to Walton and Nel’s inclusive web of a school.
The inclusion web of the school, as depicted by Walton and Nel, would have many micro-level webs connected to it, one for each teacher or teaching and learning space. Each micro-level web would then have its own radii branching off from its centre. The centre would be made up of the teacher surrounded by his or her learners, including learners experiencing barriers to learning. The radii would include the following criteria of an inclusive classroom influenced by literature and informed by research:
Number of learners in the classroom
Infrastructure and organisation of the classroom
Classroom and learner resources
Shared sense of responsibility
Supportive classroom environment
Well-planned, organised and presented lessons
Flexible implementation of a curriculum
Diversity of learning styles
Engaged learning
The promotion of the importance of reading
Scaffolding
Cooperative learning
Differentiated teaching and learning
Individual support
Assessment and early identification and intervention of barriers to learning
Accommodations and modifications.
As in the building of a web, the radii of an inclusive classroom are not finite, but can be extended by other criteria that can promote the inclusivity of the classroom. The building of inclusivity in a classroom would be an ongoing process.
In the larger analysis and discussion of Baobab School and the foundation phase classrooms, informed by the research, Walton and Nel’s (
The data analysis was carried out in three phases, with the aim of providing insights into the research questions:
The discussion contained in this article focuses only on the findings pertaining to the micro-level of the classroom.
Various factors emerged from the findings from the questionnaires, in-depth interviews and observations of the three foundation phase teachers. These were grouped using the criteria in the radii of the inclusive classroom web (Skae
Synthesised categories of the emergent factors.
No. | Category | Includes |
---|---|---|
1. | Language of teaching and learning | English-medium classes Additional languages – Afrikaans and isiXhosa |
2. | Classroom size, infrastructure and resources | inadequate resources insufficient books for differentiated reading levels |
3. | Supportive learning environment | positive attitude of teachers shared sense of responsibility well planned, organised and presented lessons flexible implementation of curriculum routine and structure set boundaries praise discipline few distractions |
4. | Teaching and learning strategies | reviewing previous lesson short, clear instructions repetition modelling think-aloud techniques use of a variety of examples accommodating different learning styles active involvement of learners scaffolding differentiated teaching and learning reading skills and techniques use of concrete resources working in pairs/groups – cooperative learning individual/one-on-one support accommodations/modifications assessments |
The main language of teaching and learning in all three foundation phase classrooms that were observed was English, with Afrikaans and isiXhosa being taught as additional languages. Learners who could not speak English were unable to enrol into the English medium classes at Baobab School. The school did, however, provide Afrikaans-medium classes, and isiXhosa and English were taught as additional languages in these classes.
Ms Miya (pseudonym) (Grade 2) was multilingual, being able to speak all three languages. She stated that,
‘With some you notice that they are still reliant on their own home language to be able to identify the things in English, so if they are confused then I say it in their own language.’ (Teacher, Grade 2, female)
It was an asset and of benefit to her learners that she could speak all three languages, as she would assist learners with the understanding of an English word or term, by translating into the learner’s home language of isiXhosa or Afrikaans.
Number of learners in the classroom
All three foundation phase teachers stated their concern that having a maximum of 36 learners in their classrooms was still too large, because that number made it impossible for them to offer sufficient individual time and attention to every learner, especially those experiencing barriers to learning. That number made the struggle to deal with the variety of challenges and diversity of needs of all their learners even more difficult. The teachers felt that a teacher aid could possibly enable a smaller teacher to learner ratio and provide additional support for the learners.
Infrastructure and organisation of the classroom
Ms Miya’s classroom was too small to accommodate all her 36 learners comfortably, making it difficult for her to access learners at the back of the classroom. Ms Snyman (pseudonym) (Grade 3) also had difficulty accessing her blackboard, which was positioned above shelves. The teachers, however, had cupboards and shelves in which to store their classroom resources, and wall space to display educational posters, to enable an organised and stimulating classroom space.
The teachers organised the desks of the learners facing each other in groups of three or four desks pushed together, allowing for six or eight learners to be seated in a group (two learners per desk). Seating the learners so that they were comfortable and able to interact with one another, was conducive to an atmosphere of inclusivity and this enabled cooperative learning (eds. Makoelle & Van der Merwe
Classroom and learner resources
The three foundation phase classrooms all had old and tattered educational resources in the form of posters, charts, abacuses and scales. These were not necessarily outdated and could still be effectively used. The only visible new resources were the classroom libraries and Mathematics resources donated by NGO initiatives. The teachers spoke of a shortage of reading resources in terms of books with differentiated reading levels, which they felt constrained the sufficient access to reading material by the learners at the different reading levels.
Shared sense of responsibility
There was a shared sense of responsibility at Baobab School emanating from the principal and radiating out to the teachers and other staff members. They were actively involved with the learners throughout the day at the school. Together they worked at instilling respect in the learners for the school, their elders and their peers, and thereby created an environment conducive to learning. The learners were enthusiastic and interested in their learning, attempting to complete their daily work and activities in the classroom. This shared sense of responsibility also encompassed finding the best possible support for learners who experienced barriers to learning at Baobab School.
Supportive classroom learning environment
The three classrooms all had a supportive learning environment, where it could be seen that the learners felt appreciated, comfortable and safe. The learners felt appreciated when the teacher responded to their questions, listened to their concerns and worked with them on an individual basis. They felt comfortable to freely ask questions and safe as they were seen to hug the teacher and were actively involved in the classroom activities. The teachers had a positive attitude about the inclusive education of learners in their classrooms, including the learners who experienced difficulties.
The teachers were always on time, starting their lessons punctually to present planned and organised lessons. Structure and routine were established in the classrooms, so that the learners knew what was expected of them and what their boundaries were. The teachers were interested in their learners and engaged in conversation with them. Engelbrecht and Green (eds.
Distractions arose when learners approached Ms Miya throughout the morning to have their work marked when she was busy with a struggling learner. There was a need for her attention by a learner experiencing barriers to learning, which impacted on the attention she could give to other learners. Ms Miya and Mrs Coetzee (pseudonym) (Grade 1) both suggested that it would be of benefit to have a teacher aid in their classes to assist them where necessary, or a smaller class size in ensuring more effective inclusion.
Well planned, organised and presented lessons
The lessons presented by the teachers in the foundation phase had been planned and organised. Copies of worksheets on the concepts to be taught were made for the learners or they had their subject workbooks to work in. The previous lesson in the subject was reviewed to remind the learners what they had covered previously before they began with the next concept or stage in their learning. The instructions given by the teachers were short and clear, with the use of repetition and a variety of examples, and think-aloud techniques were modelled for the learners so as to better understand what was required of them. These techniques enabled all the learners in their inclusive education, especially those who struggled or were slow in completing their work.
There were learners who were engaged in Ms Miya’s lesson, but still struggled to grasp the concepts taught. One such instance was when the concept of mixed multiplication by grouping, repeat addition and skip counting was taught in one of the Mathematics lessons. There was confusion amongst learners as to the different groupings leading to the same answer, such as 6 groups of 3 = 18 and 3 groups of 6 = 18. Even the Mathematics textbook was unclear on this and added to the confusion. Ms Miya attempted to overcome this confusion by having some of her learners who were struggling utilise counters to help illustrate the groupings concretely, showing teacher mastery of the skills needed to deal with learners experiencing barriers to learning, as well as resource availability.
Diversity of learning styles
The teachers presented their lessons in a manner that catered for the diverse learning styles of their learners, encouraging visual, auditory, tactile and kinaesthetic learning. They used concrete and semi-concrete resources, such as counters, Lego blocks and 100s counting tables (donated by NGOs), with their learners, so they could use visual, tactile and kinaesthetic learning to help them better understand various concepts in Mathematics.
In learning the phonetic sound ‘ar’, Ms Miya had her learners use various forms of learning styles, from saying out the ‘ar’ sound as auditory learning, to tactile and kinaesthetic learning when they wrote the sound on each other’s backs, to visual and kinaesthetic learning when they wrote the words with the ‘ar’ sound in them in their exercise books, underlining the ‘ar’ in colour. Pienaar and Raymond (
Ms Miya stated that learners experiencing learning difficulties benefitted especially from concrete methods of teaching and learning because concrete resources enabled these learners physically to see, touch and manipulate the educational resources, remaining at the concrete level for a longer period than the academically stronger learners who could understand concepts being taught through semi-concrete or abstract examples.
Engaged learning – active involvement of learners
Ms Miya on several occasions actively involved her learners in her lessons by using a variety of strategies and methods for the learners to practise their knowledge and skills, such as working in pairs or groups, using different concrete materials, having learners come up to the front of the class to demonstrate a concept, and playing games. The use of these varieties of methods was seen to engage and enable the learners with their learning and provided ‘differing amounts and types of practice to achieve skill mastery and to maintain learning’ (Pienaar & Raymond
Rote learning, such as when the learners said their numbers, tables, days of the week and months of the year, over and over again, to memorise them, did not always engage all the learners. The learners in Ms Miya’s class were easily distracted and appeared bored when doing their numbers and tables every morning.
The promotion of the importance of reading
All three foundation phase classes had reading lessons every day, as in this phase the learners were learning to read and the teachers emphasised the importance of reading as a necessary skill for their learners to have.
They had class reading, where the teacher read to the entire class using a large, colourfully illustrated book; group reading, with the learners reading in groups of five or six, each taking a turn; and finally, paired reading, when learners read to each other in pairs. They did not take any books home to read for homework or pleasure. They did, however, have access to their classroom libraries during the school day, where they were encouraged to read if they had finished their classwork. The school was fortunate that the classroom libraries were donated by an NGO as they had no main school library. The learners had access to books in the libraries in all three languages, English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa.
The teachers used various reading strategies and techniques to help learners with their reading. The learners were encouraged to look at the illustrations in their books to help them better understand what was being read, as well as to predict what may happen further on in their book. They were also encouraged to discuss what they thought was happening in the book in order to establish their comprehension of the text. The strategy of breaking up and sounding out words was used to assist learners to establish the word they were attempting to read, as well as the use of their finger to point at the words they were reading to help them track the text.
The teachers expressed their frustration as to the lack of sufficient standardised reading books for the learners. The learners had to share books or make do with photocopies of reading material. Some of the reading material was too difficult for some of the learners in the class, so they were unable to follow what was being read. The teachers stated that certain of the learners would have benefitted from reading at a simpler level and possibly would have been less discouraged.
The university had established a reading initiative with Baobab School and some of the learners also attended a literacy programme held one afternoon a week at the school’s daycare centre.
The parents who had attended the parent workshops held once a week by another initiative of the university were encouraged to take their children to the local city library, where they could withdraw books and attend storytime.
Scaffolding
The teachers provided support for their learners in small incremental steps so that they did not become overwhelmed; but as was evidenced in learners’ exercise books, they achieved success at each stage, before moving on to the next stage. Mrs Coetzee illustrated scaffolding when she worked with a number at a time per Mathematics lesson and a letter at a time per writing lesson.
Cooperative learning
The teachers encouraged their learners to work together in groups or pairs, supporting each other to achieve a common goal, such as in Ms Miya’s classroom when working in groups or pairs with the Lego blocks when learning the concept of ‘the difference between’ in Mathematics. They also had learners read in pairs or groups, allowing for the learners each to take turns with reading in a relaxed setting. The learners were shown how to support each other when reading, first allowing their peers to attempt to read a word, and only then prompting when they could not read the word correctly. Pienaar and Raymond (
Mrs Coetzee stated during her interview that she seated some of her academically weaker learners next to academically stronger learners, so that they could support them ‘at the level that the child understands and on a co-equal basis’ (Pienaar & Raymond
Differentiated teaching and learning
The teachers were aware, and conscious, of the fact that their learners did not have the same prior knowledge and skills, did not have the same interests or cultural backgrounds and did not learn in the same manner, or at the same pace. Ms Miya had been taught at the university she attended about differentiated teaching and learning, which allowed for teachers to accommodate the needs of their learners with differing abilities in their classes. She had attempted to introduce this strategy in her class, but had found it too onerous because of the workload, time constraints and insufficient resources. She had resorted to helping the learners who were struggling with their work on an individual basis. The other teachers informed me during their interviews that they used this same strategy when working with learners experiencing difficulties with their work. Once again the teachers mentioned the difficulty in managing the rest of the class when working with a learner experiencing difficulties in a lesson.
Individual support
The teachers chose to work on an individual basis with learners who were experiencing difficulties with their work in their classes. They did this whilst the rest of the class were completing work or at break time. The teachers felt that this was the most effective way to support them, as they could concentrate specifically on the one learner and his or her difficulties.
It was, however, difficult for the teachers to monitor the whole class whilst they were working with a particular learner, because the other learners became restless and noise levels rose, especially as they completed their work more quickly than those learners experiencing difficulties. Ms Miya explained that,
Learners cover different concepts at different paces. I am working with one learner that is slower and the others are already done and then there is a distraction and then in the end you have to split yourself, come and see this one and that one.
Ms Miya told her learners to collect a book from the classroom library when they had finished their work as a solution to keeping them occupied. The teachers felt that a teacher aid would facilitate assistance with the management of learners in their classes.
Assessments and early identification and intervention of barriers to learning
The teachers would call in the parents of learners they perceived to be experiencing barriers to learning in their classes and then, along with the SBST, attempt to identify the learner’s difficulties and needs and to put a support plan in place for them. They advised the parents to approach the psychiatric hospital to have educational, scholastic and behavioural assessments carried out with various psychologists there, as well as any necessary counselling. This was carried out free of charge. They also approached the university counselling centre to have psychologists there help learners needing support, once again free of charge. When medical intervention and medication were required, clinics were approached for assistance. Teachers asked parents to take their children to specialists, such as an eye specialist for visual impairments or a physiotherapist for a learner who had suffered a stroke. Otherwise, teachers attempted to provide additional academic support in the classroom for the learners through one-on-one tuition.
They would fill out the Special Needs Assessment (SNA) forms with the SBST and parents, and send these to the District Based Support Team (DBST). They stated that they did not receive any follow-up or support from the DBST, where Mrs Coetzee said,
‘For example, if you fill in all those thick forms (SNA forms) that you submit to the department, they don’t come back to you. They don’t screen the child – nothing.’ (Teacher, female)
They, therefore, had to use various initiatives in the community. No formal Individual Education Plan (IEP) was written up for any of the learners by the teachers.
Accommodations and modifications
Learners experiencing barriers to learning were accommodated by being seated at the front of the class or close to the teacher’s desk, or they were placed next to an academically stronger learner. Additional time was allowed for slower learners. Also, prompting assisted with the understanding of an exercise or the completion of a test by a learner. No modifications were carried out on any work for learners experiencing learning difficulties.
It was heartening to observe the extent to which inclusive education practices were carried out at the school and in the classrooms.
Several factors were identified that enabled or constrained inclusive teaching in the classroom considered. Enabling factors included:
The teachers were committed to inclusive teaching in their classrooms, in particular investigating a great deal of effort to effectively teach the children in their classes who experienced barriers to learning. There was a shared sense of responsibility amongst the stakeholders, a supportive classroom environment, well-planned, organised and flexibly presented lessons, emphasis on the importance of reading, use of a variety of teaching strategies allowing for varied engagement and diverse learning styles, and the early identification and intervention of learners experiencing barriers to learning.
Teachers appreciated the diversity in their classes in terms of prior knowledge and skills, interests, cultural backgrounds, preferred modes of learning and pace of learning and varied their teaching in the effort to accommodate this diversity.
Teachers carefully scaffolded learning opportunities in the effort to enable children to master each stage of learning before moving to the next.
The teachers could approach and work with the SBST, which had the capacity to mobilise several resources available on the local community, for children experiencing barriers to learning in the different classes.
Teachers put in the effort to give individual attention to children experiencing barriers to learning, in-class time or break time, in order to help these learners master their work.
Constraining factors included:
At times the extensive attention given to children experiencing barriers to learning resulted in disruptions to the learning of other learners, because of the lack of attention of the teacher.
Teachers acknowledged that differentiated teaching could more effectively accommodate the diversity in their classrooms, but were not able to implement this in their classes because of work load, time constraints and the lack of resources.
Facilitation of an inclusive classroom was a difficult task and the teachers were not always able to engage all the learners effectively, particularly when faced with the multiple conflicting needs for teacher attention in such a class. This highlights the complex nature of inclusive teaching and the need for highly skilled and flexible teaching for this to be well implemented.
The size of these Foundation Phase classes made it extremely difficult for teachers to adopt the flexibility and responsiveness required for effective inclusive teaching. Although teachers suggested that the use of teaching assistants may help overcome this constraint, it could be questioned whether teaching assistants would display the teaching proficiency needed to effectively facilitate teaching in such diverse classes.
This article responds to the need for a deeper understanding of the engagement of teachers with learners, including learners experiencing barriers to learning, in our ordinary, public, primary school classrooms in South Africa, as well as the extent to which classroom practices are inclusive. It addresses Walton (
On entering a no-fees paying, public, primary school in the Eastern Cape and three of its English-medium foundation phase classrooms, it was heartening to observe the extent to which inclusive education and practices were carried out at the school and in the classrooms.
There remain, however, various challenges that are faced by schools, teachers and the South African Department of Basic Education in enabling the implementation of inclusive education which need to be addressed. These include the need for further provincial and national support in providing ‘clear directives for appropriate responsibility and control of implementation’ (Engelbrecht et al.
Future research could aim at providing a comprehensive picture of the factors enabling and constraining the successful delivery of inclusive education in the classroom on the basis of larger samples than are offered here. The focus could be extended to include not only other primary schools in other areas in South Africa but also preschool institutions and secondary schools.
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
This article is based on the Master of Education dissertation of V.S. under the supervision of B.B. and D.W. at Rhodes University, Makhanda.
Ethical clearance for the research project entitled ‘An Eastern Cape, public, primary school’s engagement with children in an inclusive foundation phase classroom in the presence of barriers to learning: A case study analysis’ was granted by the Faculty of Education Higher Degrees Committee of Rhodes University and received clearance number 2017.4.04.14.
Permission to access the school was obtained from the Eastern Cape Department of Education. The teacher participants were fully informed about the research goals, that pseudonyms would be used to ensure anonymity, that participation was voluntary and that they were free to withdraw at any stage of the study. Informed consent was obtained to undertake classroom observations and two of the three teachers agreed to their classes being video-recorded. Written notes were made when observing the third teacher.
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the author V.S. The data are not publicly available because of their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect an official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the authors.