CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION AND ORIENTATION TO THE STUDY
INTRODUCTION
In South Africa in particular, classes are generally very big and teachers often find the diversity that is present among the learners in these large classes very daunting. Although a diversity of learning styles, talents and personalities has always been a key factor in the classroom, teachers in the past also taught within a framework of many commonalities because of the uniformity of culture, age and background of especially white learners in South Africa prior to 1994. Learners with barriers to learning were previously referred to special classes or specialised schools. In the case of many black learners in Africa, those with severe barriers to learning were often not sent to school, and those with less obvious barriers were included by default in general classes (Ainscow 1994:186). Consequently teachers were seldom required to teach specifically learners with physical impairments, such as visually or hearing-impaired learners, or learners with other severe barriers to learning in their classes. Today, however, diversity in the classroom implicates not only learners with specific barriers to learning (academic, emotional and socio-economic), but also learners from diverse cultural, gender, age, skills and language backgrounds (De Villiers 2000:1).
Inclusion, as a response to diversity, refers to attempts by educational authorities, schools and individual teachers to integrate all learners in the teaching-learning process. Since the practical implementation of inclusion is a continuous process, the government and teachers have to consider ongoing and concrete steps designed to ensure sustainable change in the most effective way possible.
Both nationally and internationally there is currently a tendency to educate learners in an inclusive environment. An important document in this regard is the Salamanca Statement, issued in 1994 at Salamanca, Spain, by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and intended to serve as a directing principle for international education fraternities. In 1996, the National Commission on Special Needs in
Education and Training (NCSNET) was allocated the task of advising the Minister of Education in South Africa on the education of learners with special educational needs. According to this report, an inclusive learning environment is one that:
promotes the full personal, academic and professional development of all learners irrespective of race, class, disability, religion, learning styles and language. It is one which is free from discrimination, segregation, and harassment and which intentionally tries to facilitate an atmosphere of mutual acceptance and respect It respects the rights of all
learners and enables them to participate fully in a democratic society (NCSNET 1997:vi).
The definition and implications of the above were highlighted in the policy documents that followed, such as the White Paper 6 (2001), which state, inter alia, that:
All learners can learn, but they need support. This principle coincides with that of Outcomes-based Education.
- The fact that all learners are different in some way and consequently have different learning needs, must be accepted and respected.
- Conditions at school (educational structures, systems, teaching methods, teachers’ skills) should be such that they can meet the needs of all learners, also those who previously qualified to attend specialised schools.
- The participation of all learners should be maximised in order to empower them to develop their individual strengths.
- Teachers who lack the necessary expertise and skills will have to develop them by attending one or more appropriate programmes.
Researchers that participated in the National Educational Policy Investigation (NEPI 1992:30) determined that at that time between forty and fifty per cent of learners in South Africa needed special support in the classroom. Learners requiring extra support could include those who are learning disabled, dyslexic, gifted, who manifest with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Syndrome, have hearing- or visual impairments, are AIDS orphans
with no adult care, or experience emotional or other barriers, for example socio-economic barriers to learning, or who are second- and third-language speakers. Researchers like Ainscow (1994:5) and Dednam (2005:364) maintain that there is no sharp divide between ‘handicapped’ and ‘normal’, but rather a range of individual needs across a continuum.
