On 19 April 2016 SACE and VVOB organized its first Professional Seminar in 2016 on teacher professional development for inclusive education. More than 70 participants explored how teacher professional development should be shaped to achieve inclusive education.
This seminar on inclusive education was long overdue. Despite the constitutional right to access to basic and further education, of 100 pupils that start school in South Africa, only 50 will make it to Grade 12, 36 will pass and only 14 will qualify for university[i]. Moreover, the vast majority of South African pupils are significantly below where they should be in terms of the curriculum, and more generally, have not reached a host of normal numeracy and literacy milestones. Although education should be an instrument for social mobility, South African education mainly reproduces social class differences.
White Paper 6 forms the legislative and policy framework for the implementation of inclusive education in South Africa. The maintenance of a segregated special education system was seen to be incongruous with the establishment of a socially just system and ultimately a democratic society. The White Paper constituted a move from a medical view to a social rights view of learning, in line with international developments.
The concept of inclusion was defined as broader than disability. Inclusive education is about recognizing that all learners are different and have different learning needs which are equally valued and an ordinary part of our human experience. Learners may perceive impairments to learning as a result of poverty, language, learning gaps, disabilities or gender. These may lead to barriers to learning if the environment is not suitably adapted. Inclusive education is about enabling education structures, systems and learning methodologies to meet the needs of all learners.
Since the publication of White Paper 6, important progress has been made in the realisation of inclusive education. South Africa ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, enrolment of learners with disabilities to special and full service schools has increased and systemic change of the education system has begun. However, a lot still remains to be done.
15 years after the publication of White Paper 6 many learners are still failed by the system. Growing numbers of learners are referred to special schools, even if they could perfectly thrive in an ordinary school. Many learners experience barriers which are psycho-social as well as pedagogical. District support services do not provide appropriate support to teachers to help them to change methodologies and introduce curriculum and assessment differentiation. Many subject advisors are not knowledgeable about multi-level teaching and institution-level support teams are often not effective and capacitated.
Successful inclusion depends on the attitudes and actions of school principals and the investment of other school personnel as they create the school culture and have the ability to challenge or support inclusion. However, many teachers and school leaders lack the necessary skills to achieve inclusion in their schools. How can the gap between inclusive policy and practice be closed?
During the seminar 13 speakers and 70 participants from various backgrounds and with various ideas about inclusive education discussed how professional development should be shaped to make the South African education system more inclusive.
First, there is a lack of knowledge and confusion about inclusive education within the education system. Many teachers consider it a matter of specialists only and fear that learning outcomes will be negatively affected. Beliefs and attitudes of educators and school leaders need to be changed in order to create a willingness to change.
Secondly, the Integrated Teacher Development Strategy (CPTD) prioritises inclusive pedagogy and curriculum differentiation. An inclusive pedagogy is not a specialist pedagogy, but is about creating learner-centred classrooms through differentiation in content, processes and products. Teachers should be continuously supported in applying inclusive pedagogy in their classrooms, preferably through school-based and district-supported Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Finally, all education policies should be designed and evaluated with an inclusive lens.
The seminar yielded useful input on the role of SACE, as a Professional Body for educators. Through the endorsement of professional development activities, it can stimulate providers to focus on inclusive education. Through the CPTD information system and the Professional Development Portfolios of educators, it has access to valuable information on how inclusive education is interpreted in schools. By awarding additional points to professional development activities on inclusive education, it can stimulate educators to engage in professional development on inclusive education.
All presentations of this seminar and some pictures are available as attachment to this article.
