How do teachers position themselves within socially constructed discourses of disability and inclusion? A case study at a semi-rural township school in KwaZulu-Natal.
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Date
2006
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Abstract
Since a democratic dispensation in South Africa in 1994, the country has been immersed in
processes of social, economic, political, and educational transformation aimed at
entrenching principles of social justice and inclusion by foregrounding issues of equity,
redress, quality education for all, equality of opportunity, and non-discrimination. The
purpose of the current study was to listen to how teachers position themselves within
socially constructed discourses of disability and inclusion in a mainstream setting that has
integrated disabled learners. It further attempted to address the challenge of understanding
ways in which teachers' constructions of their experiences of inclusion of disabled learners
shape their professional lives, beliefs, and practices; and to interrogate contradictions,
contestations and tensions embedded in these dominant discourses. In essence, the study
sought to analyze the interactional dynamics of inclusion and exclusion. The research was
conducted within a qualitative research paradigm, and took the form of a small-scale case
study. The data collection techniques included in-depth semi-structured interviews, nonparticipant
observations, and document analysis. Findings of the study revealed that
teachers positioned themselves within discursive limits of dominant discourses. This was
evident in how they constructed disabled learners as not meeting some pre-established
standard of the discourse of normalcy. There was also evidence of policy-practice tensions
in the voices of teachers regarding support provision and delivery of a 'curriculum for all'. It
can be concluded that although significant steps had been taken to include disabled
learners, most of these arrangements were still located within the limits of dominant
discourses of deficiency, deficit and pathology. The findings point to the fact that, in
essence, the education system does not examine the ideological, political, and economic
"needs" of learners with disability within the context of inclusion. This supports the
arguments put forth by Sayed (2002) that inclusion and exclusion are not simply bipolar
processes. Inclusion in itself presents problems of co-option and control and does not
imply that people are not excluded. The act of inclusion begs the question of what the
included have become included in, on whose terms, and what new exclusions the act of
inclusion presents for them.
Description
Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.
Keywords
Inclusive education--South Africa., Mainstreaming in education--South Africa., Education--Social aspects--South Africa., Children with disabilities--Education--South Africa., Theses--Education.