Using a critical analysis of the Lesotho Inclusive Education Policy (2018) to explore teachers‘ inclusive practices
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Date
2023
Authors
Mohoebi, Matšeliso Alice
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Inclusive education has formed an important part of the agenda on the global educational development discourse. There are now greater exclusionary issues associated with migration, language and ethnicity, socio-economic status, infrastructure and resource mobility. The concept of inclusion has been introduced to bridge the gap that is visible in education and has widened to incorporate these broader issues of social diversity. Given the multifaceted nature of diversity of classrooms, we have a segregated education system of inequalities which the Lesotho Inclusive Education Policy (2018) has undertaken to address towards achieving self-reliance and equal opportunities for all. The study explored how teachers in inclusive settings demonstrate their understanding of the LIEP 2018 policy. Using purposive sampling, data collection was done through collage group portrait discussions and focus group discussions with nine teachers and a semi-structured interview with one special education manager to explore how teachers‘ understanding of the LIEP 2018 policy and the Ministry of Education and Training support for the teachers in implementing the policy. The study used Florian and Black-Hawkins‘s Inclusive Pedagogy to inform teachers‘ inclusive practices within the framework of the interpretivist paradigm and the qualitative case study design targeting one regular secondary school in Lesotho. To analyse data, the study used thematic analysis informed by research questions to derive themes and trends that emerged from the data collected from the teachers‘ inclusive practices in the classroom and related implementation problems at school. The findings reveal the teachers‘ practices as being inconsistent with the expectations of the policy. The classroom practices have been found to be inclined towards teacher-centred approaches, typified by the rigid curriculum and assessment based on paper and pen examinations excluding visual teaching aids which could help learners to better understand the concepts in the classrooms. While the study acknowledges teachers‘ attempts at ensuring inclusive classrooms by dramatising and role-playing some of the activities, the Inclusive Pedagogy highlights lack of teachers‘ positive attitudes towards and beliefs in the policy, lack of sign language interpreters and resources to achieve the objectives of the policy. The paper concludes that successful implementation of inclusive education depends on teachers‘ competencies in and attitudes towards inclusive teaching methods and human and material resources. The study thus proposes an inclusive teachers‘ practices model informed by the findings and the literature to help with the proper implementation of the LIEP 2018 policy.
Description
Thesis (Ph.D.(Policy Studies in Education))--University of the Free State, 2023
Keywords
Inclusive education, policy, inclusive practices, implementation