ENVIRONMENT
The White Paper 6: Special Needs Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System, was gazetted in 2001 (DoE, 2001). “This document provides a framework for establishing an Inclusive Education and Training System in South Africa. It emphasises the changes that are necessary to ensure that all learners (with or without disabilities) develop their full potential” (DoE, 2001, p. 5).
The White Paper 6 highlights certain principles as key to improving Inclusive Education and training, These principles include: “acknowledging that all children and youth can learn and need support; respecting differences in learners; changing attitudes, behaviour, teaching methods, curricula and environments to meet the needs of all learners; and maximising the participation of all learners with differing cultures by uncovering and minimising barriers to learning in the school curriculum (DoE, 2001, p. 5)”. It further recognises that learning extends
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beyond formal schooling to the home and community. Landsberg (2016) suggests that it is impossible for these principles to be implemented without supporting the diverse learning needs of all learners, teachers and school systems.
To strengthen education support services, the EWP6 suggests an Institution-Level Support Team (ILST), also known as a School Based Support Team (SBST) as a first level of support for learners and teachers in a school environment (DoE, 2001). The team consists of volunteers, teachers, members of the school management team, members of the District Based Support Team (DBST), as well as other community members (e.g. health professionals, governmental or non-governmental organisations/departments). The aim of this team is to support the learning and teaching process, which is done by identifying and addressing educator, learner and institutional needs. Team members are also responsible for the development of support programmes for learners, the training of teachers and the collaboration with other support structures, such as the DBST. If the SBST is unable to support learners/teachers, they should refer them to the DBST. The DBST can assist the SBST by evaluating their support services, and by providing support for schools, teachers and learners (DoE, 2001; Nel et al., 2016)
The DBST is responsible for providing a combination of professional support services, relying on the expertise of further and higher education and local communities, focusing on special schools and specialised settings, other primary and designated full-service schools and other educational institutions. Special schools are regarded as resource centres and the staff are “integrated into district support teams in order to provide specialised professional support in curriculum, assessment and instruction to mainstream schools” (DoE, 2001, p. 47).
According to the White Paper 6, classroom teachers are the primary resources for the goal of Inclusive Education and their continuing professional development is considered a priority (DoE, 2001). It is however evident that the focus on inclusive education in South African teacher education programmes tends to be short-term and lacks in depth and understanding (Engelbrecht, 2013). Many teachers still hold onto the medical deficit model as an explanatory framework, preventing them from embracing all that the inclusive approach has to offer (Mohamed & Laher, 2012; Nel et al., 2015).
The medical deficit model singles out children with any type of difference or more specific disability and considers the source of the difference within the learner. A diagnosis is then made for placement in a specialised environment and usually results in categorising and
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labelling (Kozleski & Siuty, 2014). Professionals are approached to take primary responsibility for these learners without considering available resources within the learners’ immediate environment (Pillay & Di Terlizzi, 2009).
In order to encourage school teachers to move beyond the medical deficit model and take ownership of the inclusive approach, the Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) policy was introduced by the government in 2008 (DoE, 2008). A revised version of the policy has been published since (DoE, 2014). This document is based on the White Paper 6 and aims to shift the focus from the individual towards the resources made available through the teacher’s interaction with the learner’s immediate environment. The policy’s goals are to identify: (1) the learning barriers experienced; (2) the support needs arising from these barriers; and (3) the support programme that needs to be implemented to best meet these identified needs (DoE, 2014).
It is firstly the class teacher’s responsibility to screen and profile all learners during admission, as well as in the beginning of each phase and to record their findings in the Learner Profile (LP). If the teacher has identified a learner as being vulnerable or at risk through the initial screening process, that teacher needs to take on the role of a case manager driving the support process (DoE, 2014). It is important for both the parent/caregiver and the learner to actively participate throughout the decision-making process of the SIAS (DoE, 2014).
The teacher then formulates an action plan to support the learner. If the teacher’s action plan has been deemed unsuccessful, the SBST would get involved in order to formulate a new plan of action. Their plan is then reviewed and if a higher level of support is required, the DBST or other professionals within the community are approached for additional support (DoE, 2014).
A recent study investigated the effectiveness of formal support structures implemented by the government with regards to Inclusive Education. The study revealed that even though SBSTs have the best interests in supporting learners with SpLD, teachers are hesitant to complete referral forms for such learners. This prevents the SBST from providing learners presenting with SpLD with alternative interventions. The study further indicated that the SBST do refer more complex cases to the DBST (Nel et al., 2016).
Even though the SIAS policy strives to be more in-line with social and ecological theoretical models, some gaps were detected as mentioned above. Teachers mainly reported a lack of integration of resources offered by the community. They also experienced a general shortage
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of collaborative and trusting relationships between parents/caregivers, teachers and professionals, even when they followed the SIAS process (Grech & Soldatic, 2016; Nel et al., 2016).
Mampane and Huddle (2017) suggest that for the protective factors found within the learner’s immediate environment to reach its maximum capacity, all interactive levels (individual, family and community) of the social-ecological system need to be strengthened. This can increase the likelihood for learners with SpLD to develop resilience. Collaborative support teams guided by a transdisciplinary approach are thus proposed to support learners with SpLD in mainstream schools and to assist them in developing resilience (Engelbrecht et al., 2015; Hall & Theron, 2016; Lansberg, 2016; Nel et al., 2016; Silverman et al., 2010).
2.8 THE TRANSDISCIPLINARY APPROACH