Supportive strategies for teachers and parents dealing with learners experiencing mild intellectual barriers to learning
- Authors: Swartz, Deon Jude
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Learning disabilities , Inclusive education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/5065 , vital:20799
- Description: Education support provision underwent a complete metamorphosis with the adoption of Education White Paper 6: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System in 2001. Within this new paradigm, learners who experience Mild intellectual barriers to learning are understood from a culture of inclusion and accommodation within mainstream education, alongside their non disabled peers. Another important development within Inclusive Education is the recognition of parents as important role-players in their children’s education. This bold transformation implies that teachers and parents need the necessary support from health professionals and support staff at District Based Support Teams (DBSTs) attached to the local Education Support Centres, in order for them to support their children who experience Mild intellectual barriers to learning. As a result of the radical overhaul of the education system to accommodate learners who experience Mild intellectual barriers to learning in mainstream schools, the main aim of the study is to establish the implications for teachers and parents who deal with such learners. The researcher employed a qualitative research design within an interpretive paradigm from a phenomenological perspective, in order to capture the organic richness of the participants’ perceived experiences with regards to the phenomenon under investigation. The researcher made use of a combination of convenience, judgement and purposive sampling. The sample group included teachers and parents from two primary schools who deal with learners who experience Mild intellectual barriers to learning. The learners had previously been assessed psychometrically by Educational Psychologists and identified as fulfilling the criteria for Mild intellectual barriers to learning. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and separate interview schedules were drafted for teachers and parents. Data was analysed using Tesch’s eight step data analysis procedure to identify common themes which emerged from the participants’ responses. The findings of the research indicated teachers and parents had different perceptions about their roles in regards to the children whose learning they support. It also indicated that teachers experience challenges in their attempts to support their learners who experience Mild intellectual barriers in their classes, and with understanding the philosophy of Inclusive education. Furthermore, both parents and teachers experience a lack of support from health professionals and Inclusive Education specialists at the DBSTs within Bronfenbrenner’s eco-systemic framework, which formed the theoretical foundation for this study. Consequently, strategies to support teachers and parents to address these challenges were proposed.
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- Date Issued: 2015
How can educators in the intermediate phase be empowered to cope with the demands they face in an inclusive classroom situation?
- Authors: Bosman, Ysanne Bosman
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Learning disabilities , Children with disabilities -- Education (Elementary) , Inclusive education , Teachers of problem children , Classroom management , Special education teachers -- Training of , Teachers -- Uganda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9507 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1234 , Learning disabilities , Children with disabilities -- Education (Elementary) , Inclusive education , Teachers of problem children , Classroom management , Special education teachers -- Training of , Teachers -- Uganda
- Description: The rationale of my research was to make sure that all learners are treated as equals in the education afforded to them. The researcher noticed that not all educators in mainstream schools facing learners experiencing learning problems could deal with the Curriculum and that many had difficulty in coping in an inclusive classrooms setting. Furthermore, the researcher noticed that many educators percieve that they did not have the knowledge and skills to identify and support learners experiencing learning problems. Consequently, the educators felt that they could not effectively help these learners in their learning progress. While the educators struggle to cope, learners ended up having to repeat a grade or being promoted to the next grade without having attained the neccesary skills yet. The researcher set out to research what the available literature stated about how educators could be empowered to cope with teaching learners experiencing learning problems in an inclusive classroom situation. For this research study, a qualitative approach was followed, as it best matched the type of interactive investigation considered necessary. Due to time, financial and resources constraints, purpose sampling was used as the most effective method of yielding data. The qualitative approach embraced a multi-perspective approach, in terms of which methods of data collection were used, such as collection questionnaires, conducting interviews and using observations. The researcher trusts that her understanding as presented in the research findings and the recommendations made will benefit not only herself, but will empower all educators coping with the stress of teaching learners experiencing learning problems and improving their skills and self-esteem in the educational environment.
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- Date Issued: 2010
Narrative play therapy and the journey of a boy diagnosed with a learning disability: a case study
- Authors: Topper, Kegan
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Play therapy -- Case studies , Narrative therapy -- Case studies , Children with disabilities , Learning disabilities , Cognitive therapy for children , Play -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (C Psy)
- Identifier: vital:11854 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/313 , Play therapy -- Case studies , Narrative therapy -- Case studies , Children with disabilities , Learning disabilities , Cognitive therapy for children , Play -- Psychological aspects
- Description: This study offers a detailed exploration of the personal narrative of a nine year old boy diagnosed with a learning disability, and explains how the nature of the therapeutic relationship facilitated shifts in his personal understandings of himself, others and the world. Children diagnosed with learning disabilities experience a range of challenges in their different life contexts, and particularly within the school context. This is often because of constant evaluation and surveillance from teachers, family members and peers, who define the child within rigid and limiting frameworks. Soon enough children diagnosed with learning disabilities develop problem-saturated narratives that can significantly influence their relationship with themselves and others. This is because the individualising effects of having a disability cause them to feel different or isolated from their peers. This study illustrates an eight session case study, facilitated by a narrative play therapy approach, between a counsellor, a child and his parents. The therapeutic encounters were intended to assist the child in moving away from problem-saturated narratives of incompetence and inferiority towards more preferred narratives that would positively influence his self esteem. Key words: learning disability, dyslexia, narrative, narrative therapy, identity, self esteem. Children Diagnosed with a Learning Disability Children who have been diagnosed with a learning disability often experience themselves and their world very differently from other children (Rodis, Garrod, & Boscardin, 2001). Within the educational system a considerable amount of pressure is placed on children to succeed. The educational discourse of achievement that professes itself to be the only direction from which a successful future can be attained, marginalizes and rejects those children whose knowledge and skills exist outside this rigid and oftentimes insensitive system of evaluation. As a result, children soon create problem saturated narratives, believing themselves to be the problem. However, in the last two decades there has been a move from reductionism to constructivism and as a result research in the field of learning disabilities has started to focus on children’s non-traditional strengths and talents, which are often misunderstood and ignored by schools. Armstrong (1987) sums it up as follows: The schools allow millions of imaginative kids to go unrecognised
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- Date Issued: 2010