Responding To The Challenges Of Inclusive Education In Southern Africa 2

This book reflects on more than two decades of adoption practices of inclusive education policy in Southern Africa. It is aimed at taking stock of the successes, challenges and achievements during this journey of making education inclusive and equitable. It responds to the educational needs of learners at all levels, regardless of their diverse needs, such as disability, gender, socio-economic status, race, ethnicity and language background. This book furthers the understanding and conceptualization of the notion of inclusion in education, and explores the challenges experienced during the operationalization and implementation of the process. It extends debates spawned by international and national policy mandates that sought to transcend exclusionary educational practices in order to realize inclusive societies and, by implication, inclusive classrooms. It offers a comprehensive conceptual framework for inclusive education in the Southern African context while drawing parallels from the regional and international experience. This book can be used as a reference or critical reading for scholars and researchers in the field of inclusive education. It will empower practitioners, administrators, teachers and school leaders, curriculum developers and planners, as well as policy makers with knowledge about theory and practice regarding inclusive education in the Southern African schooling system.

Challenging Inclusive Education Policy and Practice in Africa explores notions of inclusion and inclusive education across a range of countries in Africa, from local and international perspectives.

The Language of Inclusive Education is an insightful text which considers the writing, speaking, reading and hearing of inclusive education. Based on the premise that humans use language to construct their worlds and their realities, this book is concerned with how language works to determine what we know and understand about issues related to in/exclusion in education. Using a variety of analytical tools, the author exposes language-at-work in academic and popular literature and in policy documents. Areas of focus include: What inclusive education means and how it is defined How metaphor works to position inclusive education How textbooks construct inclusive education How we use language to build what we understand to be difference and disability, with particular reference to AD(H)D and Asperger’s Syndrome Listening to children and young people as a means to promote inclusion in schools Woven through this volume is the argument for a more critical awareness of how we use language in the field that we call ‘inclusive education’. This book is a must-read for any individual studying, practicing or an interest in inclusion and exploring the associations with language.

This book thus explores the role of African epistemologies in addressing the myriad challenges posed by the inclusive education system in Africa and other contexts. In recent years, the shift from special education to inclusive education has had a significant impact on the provision of education and the education system as a whole in Africa. The impact has been felt in all institutions of learning from low to high, public and private, government, and across departments of education. Inclusive education, if shaped correctly by using African epistemologies, would empower learners to attain the relevant skills, knowledge, values, and attitudes for their own intellectual growth and personal development.

Inclusive education has been phased into South Africa since 2001 but relies heavily upon adequate support services to support learners and teachers experiencing barriers to learning and development. This book focuses on the different levels of support provided in South African education – from School-based Support Teams to District-based Support Teams through to special and full-service schools, and how these could be reconceptualised to provide improved support to learners and teachers. Current research indicates that inclusive education is being implemented in varied and fragmented forms across the country, and the point of departure of this work is that education support services need to be improved and reconceptualised to ensure better support for inclusive education.