Support for learners with intellectual disabilities in the transition to secondary schools

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Until recently, learners with intellectual disability were legislatively marginalised fromparticipation in mainstream education in South Africa. Since the advent ofdemocracy in South Africa in 1994, legislation has been passed and education policydeveloped which supports the inclusion of learners with intellectual disability inmainstream secondary schools.This research was prompted by a problem situation which occurred in the WesternCape of South Africa when it became apparent that many learners described ashaving mild intellectual disability could not be accommodated within the School ofSkills (previously a Special Secondary School) to which they had applied. Thepurpose of the research has been to evaluate the implementation of a programme ofsupport developed collaboratively between various stakeholders to allow for theinclusion of these learners within six urban mainstream secondary schools.Through its guiding transformative theoretical framework and its evolving design, theevaluation of the programme has attempted to be as inclusive as possible. It hasused qualitative research methods in order to seek out the views and encourage theparticipation of diverse stakeholders; from the learners whose social and academicwellbeing and advancement have been the central focus of this study, to individualsrepresenting various systems surrounding these learners.In order to do justice to the complexity of the programme implementation andevaluation process and to identify and accurately represent common themes andcategories which emerged over time, data transformation has been emphasised inthree different ways; namely a description, an analysis and an interpretation. Theobservations and themes which have emerged from this evaluation have highlightedvarious factors which were seen to advance or impede the inclusion of learners withmild intellectual disability in the six secondary schools; the extent to which thelearners' social and academic wellbeing had been advanced by the programme; andthe degree to which problem solving was evident in the participating secondaryschools and the local education authority. Prolonged and sustained engagement in aprocess of programme development, implementation and evaluation suggests thatpositive educational and social transformation is enabled when stakeholders aregiven the time and space to reflect upon their intentions and practice.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University