The Areas Requiring Development (Research Problem)

Statistically, the number of the SEN programmes has increased in KSA mainstream schools, and as the GDSE claims, it is not just the quantity but also the quality of these programmes that makes them effective within the international trend.

32 As explained in the preface, I can say that the KSA educational system is eager towards inclusive education, aligning themselves with the international movement. However, the educational reform initiatives for addressing polices, like the Salamanca statement, are young, with a considerable need for improvement.

It can be explained that the KSA has shifted towards inclusive education by implementing an array of polices and other structural changes in some mainstream schools. This educational reform orientation doesn’t reflect a true change in school perception, it only shows the desire to follow the international trend. These changes, as explained previously, amount to integration rather than inclusion, which raises challenges for mainstream schools to respond to all students’ diverse abilities, with other parts needed to be addressed.

A review of the previous policies that the school system based its practice on (School Structure changing) shows contradictions between the orientation towards inclusion in practice and the real language used in these polices. For example, Article 39 of the RSEPI (2001) states that mainstream teachers’ tasks include accepting students labelled with SEN in their classrooms and collaborating with SEN teachers by polices. However, as Alnahdi (2014) states, what happens in these schools is not inclusion: even during breaks, students labelled with SEN often spend time with one another instead of interacting with their mainstream peers. Another example, as raised by Alnahdi (2014), is that mainstream teachers do not usually welcome mixed-ability classrooms, refusing to accept students labelled with ID in their classrooms. These contradictions, observed in my study, involve several components.

First, inclusion requires not only changes to school structure, including policies, it also requires changes to how people think of disability and inclusion. The understanding of

33 disability and inclusion is worth exploring, as this understanding influences the school lives of students labelled with ID. It appears that the KSA’s educational system is still trying to fully grasp Aldamj as inclusion beyond mere School Structure changes, specifically focusing on Inclusive School Culture. This is also related to disability understanding – to achieve inclusive education this needs a radical rethinking where mainstream schools give up the traditional view of disability.

Second, the concept of the Least Restrictive Environment mentioned in the KSA’s education policies aims to enable students labelled with SEN to benefit from all available services in mainstream schools (Aldabas, 2015). However, the Least Restrictive Environment in the Aldamj definition is provided without clarifying in detail the requirements that constitute it (Alquraini, 2013). Consequently, Alnahdi (2014) states that the SEN programme implemented in the context of mainstream schools remains unclear for the educational practitioner, giving schools more flexibility (Weber, 2012) and adapting the term based on the unique characteristics of each School Culture.

This crisis related to the lack of consensus on how to interpret the term ‘Least Restrictive Environment’ has practical implications for whether and how to use multiple alternative placements, such as isolated SEN classrooms in mainstream schools or SEN Recourse Rooms/Units⁸ without considering students’ rights/desires.

Third, there is a crisis that relates to the confusion surrounding the term ‘Aldamj’ as inclusion. The overlapping meanings of inclusion and integration/Mainstreaming from English to Arabic cause the same procedures to be applied for both terms. Many

8 In the KSA, SEN Recourse Room/Unit is allocated in most preschools where a student labelled with ID have one to one support in no more than half hours with specialists including SEN teachers and psychologists.

34 professionals in the KSA think integration is equivalent to inclusion (Alahmadi, 2009), and both terms have been employed since Aldamj (Weber, 2012). The term ‘partial inclusion’ has also been employed (Gaad, 2011), but this is paradoxical given that true inclusion, by definition, cannot be partial. Moreover, the issue of a lack of literature on this terminology has not been addressed (Gaad, 2011), as the two models often appear simultaneously, and many writers in the KSA use Aldamj to refer to several different practices in mainstream schools (e.g. Alkhozama, 2009).

To sum up, it is clear that the GDSE has fallen short of implementing true inclusion.

Mostly, it has focussed on quantity, not quality, prioritising the placement (integration) of students labelled with ID in mainstream schools. Thus, it is difficult to argue that neighbourhood schools in the KSA are inclusive. With continued focus on integration, inclusion is still seen as more of a slogan than a reality, meaning KSA neighbourhood schools are still struggling to include all learners. As Alquraini (2013) states, there remains a clear gap between the aspirations of the KSA’s educational policies and the reality of inclusive practices, with room for improvement.

My PhD study can therefore contribute to supporting the SEN services that are provided in mainstream schools to move away from traditional ways of thinking (SEN) related to Psycho-Medical Model, because students labelled with ID are excluded within neighbourhood schools.

1.8. Conclusion

During my experience in SEN services and mainstream schools in KSA, I have seen reform practices shift in terms of the school systems based on education policies, budgets, and specialists as a human support, as discussed above. However, the SEN programmes in mainstream schools remains underdeveloped (Alahmadi, 2009; Weber, 2012;

35 Alquraini, 2013; Alnahdi, 2014), and mainstream schools are struggling to be inclusive and truly welcome students labelled with ID. It can be said that these restructuring efforts, combined with the enrolment in mainstream schools of an increasing number of students labelled with ID, represent a starting point in the overall pursuit of giving them a legitimate chance to attend neighbourhood schools with their mainstream peers.

Next, there will be a review of the literature in several aspects related to School Culture, Disability Studies and Educational Leadership, focusing on the study aims in order to identify the gaps which my study addresses.

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