Contributions and Constraints to the Implementation of Inclusive Education in Lesotho

Abstract

This article reports on a study that investigated the extent to which central ministry policy initiatives result in large-scale educational change in developing countries. Specifically, Lesotho's policy of inclusive special education was examined as a case study. The study employed a multi-method approach to yield a large data-set. Results indicate that policy implementation was limited in both depth (the approaches to inclusive education in some schools) and breadth (the number of schools that have received training in inclusive education). Where implementation was present, perceived teacher knowledge and skill was a strong predictor of success and teachers had positive attitudes toward children with disabilities.

Teachers’ Attitudes and Self-Efficacy Towards Inclusion of Pupils With Disabilities in Tanzanian Schools

“…No significant relationships were found between teachers' attitudes towards pupils with disabilities and class size and number of pupils with disabilities. This finding is affirmed by the findings of a study in Lesotho that revealed that large class sizes tend to take a toll on the social and intellectual growth of students with and without disabilities (Johnstone & Chapman, 2009). …”

South African Teachers’ Attitudes toward the Inclusion of Learners with Different Abilities in Mainstream Classrooms

“…Low expectations, in turn, subsequently influence the goals that teachers hold for their learners and the strategies and energy that teachers utilize to help learners obtain these goals (Jordan, Glenn, & McGhie-Richmond, 2009). The reality is that many learners with disabilities may not be academically learning because they are not being taught, or are being taught with the few free minutes that teachers have daily (Johnstone & Chapman, 2009). …”

“…For learners with disabilities, however, researchers and educators predominantly focus on the psychosocial influences of inclusion and very little attention is paid to the actual academic learning that transpires when learners with disabilities attend mainstream classes (Zoniou-Sideri & Vlachou, 2006). In a study of inclusion in Lesotho (Johnstone & Chapman, 2009), teachers were found to teach learners with disabilities in their classes in the few extra minutes they had available in the school day. Moreover, the teachers admitted that their pedagogical approaches were not effective for learners with disabilities, but were fine for the rest of the class (Johnstone & Chapman), indicating that ensuring that learners with disabilities actually were engaged and participating in the learning process within the classroom was not a priority for some teachers.…”

“…Research has found, for instance, that teachers rated learners with severe intellectual disabilities, autism, and sensory impairments the most challenging to include within a mainstream classroom (Avramidis & Kalyva). Teachers within South Africa and Lesotho have reported that including learners with intellectual disabilities into their classrooms is particularly difficult (Engelbrecht, Oswald, & Forlin, 2006;Johnstone & Chapman, 2009), whereas South African teachers have reported that including children with physical disabilities caused little stress (Eloff, Swart, & Engelbrecht, 2002).…”

Imagining disability? Conceptualizations of learners with disabilities and their learning in the pedagogic manuals of international development agencies

“…Lessons therefore tended to take the form of teacher explanation and demonstration, after which students completed tasks related to the preceding explanation/demonstration (see, for instance, Arbeiter and Hartley, 2002;Singal, 2008;Johnstone and Chapman, 2009). However, in some cases, some teachers made some attempts to adapt their pedagogies -adaptations equivalent to the 'Level 2 adaptations' identified in Section 2.1 of this paper.…”