Summary of the study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of Lesotho secondary school teachers in relation to inclusion of children with disabilities and/or special educational needs in a regular classroom environment, in the Maseru District of Lesotho. Chapter one providing the reader with a contextualisation and statement of the research problem. Furthermore, it listed the aim and objectives of the study, the hypotheses, delimitations, limitations of the study, and its significance. The chapter also briefly reviewed the research design and methodology. Definitions of terms that pertained to the study were delineated, and the research questions were presented. This study was guided by the following questions:

How do teachers in Lesotho secondary schools conceptualise IE?

 How do(es) their conceptualisation(s) of IE (or lack thereof) translate into their teaching approaches?

 To what degree is/are their conceptualisation(s) of IE (or lack thereof) similar or different?

 How do(es) their conceptualisation(s) of IE relate to the literature on this subject?

Chapter two reviewed the literature in order to develop a theoretical framework for the study. It examined Bourdieu’s (1985, 1999) three thinking tools of habitus, field and capital in order to explain how teachers understood IE. The five theoretical underpinnings of IE (the psycho-medical model, the sociological response, cultural approaches, school improvement strategies, and critiques of disability studies) were

also discussed. This information on the development of IE, provided essential background for the study. The chapter explored some of the main international conventions and policies relevant to the education of children with disabilities. It discussed the strategies or models that have been used to implement IE (e.g. the Partial Inclusion Model, Full Inclusion Model, Medical Model, Ecological Model, and Rights-Based Model) – as well as the principles that form its core. The chapter also discussed the key issues that should be considered when putting IE into practice. These were discussed under the themes: IE policy, leadership, teachers’ skills and teaching strategies, curriculum and assessment, communication, physical environment of schools. and school external links. Finally, the chapter highlighted some of the benefits of IE, its disadvantages, as well as some common challenges related to its implementation.

Chapter three presented detailed accounts of the research design and methodology that were adopted in the study. It was explained that the qualitative research followed an interpretivist paradigm through a case-study approach – to provide insights into the ways that teachers understand IE, and how their understanding translates into their teaching practices. Then, the chapter exposed how the schools and participants for the interviews were selected. It also showed how the collected data were processed and how the ethical issues that pertained to the study were handled. The data were analysed using the categorical indexing and discourse analysis methods. This was followed by a brief discussion of the preliminary interview. The reliability and validity issues were also highlighted, and, lastly, information about the interview sessions was provided.

Chapter four interpreted and discussed the findings of this study. A detailed summary of this chapter is presented in the next section – section 5.2. Nonetheless, it can be said that seven themes were developed from the data. The first theme, teachers’ theoretical understanding of IE, revealed that the teachers understood IE to imply mainstream school accommodation of learners with mild disabilities and/or special educational needs. It transpired that the teachers also understood IE to imply integration, as no adjustments were reported to have been made within the schools in order to accommodate learners with different abilities. IE was also understood in

terms of segregating learners with severe disabilities and/or special educational needs.

The second theme, teachers’ inclusion experiences and challenges, revealed the teachers’ experiences that most children with disabilities came from poorer families and that some parents lacked proper parenting skills. The challenges they mentioned included centralisation of their examination-orientated curriculum that jeopardised teacher innovations and curriculum adaptations, the infrastructural barriers of their schools, lack of incentives to drive motivation, negligence of parents and guardians, and the inadequate skills of teachers in terms of handling inclusive classes.

The third theme, teachers’ classroom practices in relation to IE, revealed that despite massive challenges, the teachers were trying their best to educate learners with mild disabilities and/or special educational needs – by providing them with material and moral support and by working extra hours. The teachers also encouraged peer tutoring and arranged classroom seating such that learners’ interactions and learning was optimal.

The fourth theme, teachers’ opinions about IE, revealed positive, negative and mixed teacher opinions about IE.

The fifth theme, the key elements of IE, discussed the eight essential elements of IE – as reflected in the data. These were staffing and teaching strategies, material resources, assessment and evaluation of disability, assessment of achievement, curriculum, school’s infrastructure, IE policy development and content, and the external links.

The sixth theme, advantages of IE, placed the teachers’ perceived advantages of IE into three categories: social and psychological benefits, academic benefits, and physical benefits.

The final theme uncovered the disadvantages of IE, as reflected in teacher comments. The disadvantages included: non-acceptance of those with disabilities by

their non-disabled peers, the inclusive environment making those with disabilities conscious of their personal deficits, those with disabilities monopolising teachers’ attention at the expense of their normal counterparts, and the slow pace of teaching not benefiting some learners – especially those who understood things faster.