The geographies of spaces for inclusive education: narratives of teachers in three primary schools in Eswatini.

Abstract

Despite the global shift towards inclusive education, there are still basic tensions, contradictions, and gaps between the design of legislation and the implementation of inclusive, education's objectives in daily school operations. It is uncertain whether Eswatini will continue this tendency of embracing the rhetoric of inclusivity without any real change. Implementing inclusive education policies and transforming schools to make them inclusive is a dynamic and complex process that, not only entails redefining teaching practise, but also necessitates that teachers develop a different sense of themselves as professionals and as individuals, taking into consideration the context in which they work and the power dynamics at play. This study explores the lived experiences of six teachers from three primary schools in urban, semi-urban, and rural Eswatini, as they engage in inclusive education. It also examines how these teachers negotiate and move through the diverse and complex geographies of inclusive education spaces in their schools, while contending with tensions and discrepancies between "real" - action or what is - and the "ideal" - what might be. To understand the daily experiences of teachers in the context of the power-laden spatiality of inclusive education, the use of authentic narratives as a fundamental approach of inquiry focused on listening to and hearing directly from the teachers. By utilizing spatial analysis, we can better understand the forces that shape teachers' perceptions of inclusive education. This research is informed by the idea that teachers are active social constructivists working for the change of classrooms and schools in light of inclusive education and the relationships between space and social practice. Thus, using social constructionism as a theoretical framework, my research enabled me to identify the quality of teachers' experiences with inclusive education, as well as the ways in which power embedded in school geographies mediates the construction of teachers' identities and the narratives that teachers construct to account for their lived experiences. The constructionist framework helps to make sense of the complicated social, historical, and cultural contexts that impact teachers' experiences as they evolve into practitioners who are inclusive. The results of this study show that while teachers face many difficulties, conflicts, contradictions, and complexities; they also have positive and inspirational experiences as they transform to become inclusive practitioners. There is hope for the future of inclusive education because some teachers are starting to re-evaluate how traditional education can address exclusionary practices and take their role as change agents seriously to foster more inclusive and equitable education in classrooms and schools. Others who have not yet personally started to engage with inclusive education at a deep level, are merely presenting a thin veneer of inclusion to satisfy the demands of inclusive education policy expectations. The realization that historically and traditionally dominant unequal relations of power disempower, demoralize, and discourage teachers from challenging existing and institutional structures and practice, embracing transition, and renegotiating their individual and professional identity as teachers for greater inclusive and equitable education; is becoming more and more apparent. This research helped me to understand the diversity within and between individual teachers' classrooms and schools, the multiple realities that have an impact on multiple and intersecting teacher identity construction, and the consequent need to avoid one-dimensional and linear assessments and interpretations of teachers in transition.