Enabling disability inclusive practices within the University of Cape Town curriculum: A case study

Ohajunwa, Chioma; McKenzie, Judith; Lorenzo, Theresa

doi:10.4102/ajod.v4i1.157

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…"The role of [Higher Educational Institutes] is not only to provide access for students with disabilities," but also to "build knowledge of disability into all academic spheres, and to produce graduates who are able to understand and deal with disability issues in their professional lives" [159] (p. 2). Undergraduate disabled research students could be the ones building this body of knowledge.…”

Section: Knowledge Production and Its Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Undergraduate Disabled Students as Knowledge Producers including Researchers: A Missed Topic in Academic Literature

Lillywhite

Wolbring

2019

Education Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research experience is beneficial for undergraduate students for many reasons. For example, it is argued in academic literature and in reports produced by various organizations that engage with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and science education that undergraduate research experience increases the graduation rate in STEM disciplines as well as the amount of students thinking about STEM careers. As such, being researchers should also be of benefit to undergraduate disabled students in all disciplines including STEM education. However, given that undergraduate disabled students encounter many problems within post-secondary education, including STEM education, undergraduate disabled students might encounter problems in becoming researchers. Policies are to be guided by knowledge and evidence. However, knowledge and evidence deficits exist in relation to the lived experience of disabled people. Undergraduate disabled students could decrease the knowledge deficit as researchers and knowledge producers. The numbers of disabled academic faculty are judged as being too low and efforts are under way to increase the number of disabled academics. Increasing the number of undergraduate disabled researchers might increase the available pool of disabled students that pursue an academic career. Given the important role research performed by undergraduate disabled students can play and given that many studies highlight problems for disabled students in post-secondary education in general, we used a scoping review approach to investigate the coverage of undergraduate disabled students as knowledge producers, including as researchers, in the academic literature. Using various search strategies, we obtained 1299 initial hits. However, only 15 had relevant content. No study investigated how undergraduate disabled students select their research topics or how they are enticed to pursue research projects outside of a course-based framework. No study looked at the linkage between being an undergraduate disabled researcher and career choices or using the obtained research skills on the undergraduate level in one's role as a community member after graduation. Our findings suggest an opportunity for many fields, ranging from disability studies to STEM education, to generate more empirical data and conceptual work on the role of undergraduate disabled students as knowledge producers including as researchers. Such studies could help to increase the numbers of undergraduate disabled students as knowledge producers, including researchers, which in turn could help to increase (a) the number of disabled academics, (b) the number of disabled students who perform research in the community after graduation, (c) the degree success of disabled students and (d) the knowledge available on the social situation of disabled people.

show abstract

Section: Knowledge Production and Its Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Undergraduate Disabled Students as Knowledge Producers including Researchers: A Missed Topic in Academic Literature

Lillywhite

Wolbring

2019

Education Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A widespread effort to operationalise UDL principles is not currently being made in South Africa, as is evident from the literature on the experiences of both SWDs and lecturers, as the latter still lack appropriate skills for adapting the curriculum. For instance, one study of lecturers from the University of Cape Town by Ohajunwa et al (2015) detailed that participants who were committed to supporting SWDs in the mainstream curriculum mostly did so out of their personal interest or by their own methods, often in an ad hoc manner, because they lacked of training on how to appropriately support their SWDs. I found that most South African HEIs are not providing staff development and training on campus regarding disability, despite recent recommendations that the university management within these institutions should provide professional development programmes (Makiwane 2018).…”

Section: Lecturers' Lack Of Training In Udlmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study revealed that, despite the willingness on the part of some lecturers to include disability issues in undergraduate curricula, most of these participants were unsure if they were using the best methods, and the seven academic staff that included disability issues were doing so in isolation as opposed to as part of a departmental effort (Ohajunwa 2012). Lecturers sampled in a study conducted by Ohajunwa et al (2015) expressed concerns that an overcrowded curriculum presents challenges to disability inclusion in teaching and research. Such complaints could possibly be mitigated if these lecturers had received training in UDL principles, as they would employ such principles in making efforts to ensure that inclusive features have been built into classroom instruction right from the outset of designing the curriculum (Brinckerhoff et al 2002).…”

Section: Lecturers' Lack Of Training In Udlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Universal Design for Learning and Disability Inclusion in South African Higher Education Curriculum

Chiwandire¹

2019

Alternation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

During apartheid in South Africa, students with disabilities (SWDs) were educated in special schools and taught an inferior curriculum, preventing them from accessing and participating with success in universities. To redress this, the new democratic government that came to power after apartheid put in place a range of laws to address the apartheid's curriculum inadequacies. However, this has had little impact in the academic success of SWDs, whose dropout rates continue to increase. In order to broadly understand the inclusion of SWDs in higher education (HE) curriculum transformation, this study utilised a document analysis method to conduct a critical review of literature on the experiences of lecturers, SWDs and Disability Unit Staff Members (DUSMs). The study sought to explore whether lecturers' curriculum practices could be said to be informed by Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which was also used as theoretical lens. The findings indicate that due to lack of training both lecturers willing and unwilling to support SWDs in the curriculum are struggling to operationalise UDL principles in designing and delivering their curriculum. The study concludes by recommending that university management invest in professional development courses in UDL aimed at practically training lecturers on how to inform the design of their curriculum with UDL principles. This study has added new knowledge by highlighting the need for the active involvement of the university management, and thus it recommends future studies to sample the university management on measures they are taking in supporting disability inclusion initiatives on their campuses.

show abstract

“…The amount of resources available for SWDs perceived by academics could encourage them in providing academic support and improve upon teaching instructions to accommodate SWDs (Coleman & Shevlin, 2019). Relative absence of resources in providing institutional support for SWDs instil a sense of under-appreciation and therefore an unnecessary need to exert any effort in integrating SWDs in their respective institutions (Ohajunwa et al, 2015). Instructions in handling and meeting the various requirements of SWDs need to be established with clear guidelines on what authorised actions are to be taken and whom to inquire should questions regarding the aforementioned requirements arise (Izzo, Hertzfeld, Simmons-Reed& Aaron, 2001).…”

Section: 2relationships and Hypothesis Testing 221 Perceived Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Coupling positive attitudes with the availability of appropriate support in the context of higher education institutions directly relate to the success and retention of SWDs (Rao, 2004;Ohajunwa et al, 2015). By realising the supportive efforts put forward by institutions via the development of plans, procedures, the construction of facilities and learning strategies for SWDs, the perceptions brought on by academics can be influenced (Nelson, 1990;Tinklin et al, 2004).…”

Section: Pis -Attitude Towards Swds (Atswds)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Integration of Students with Disabilities in Egyptian Tourism Higher Education Institutions (THEIs): An Academic Perspective

Kamel

2020

Journal of Association of Arab Universities for Tourism and Hos

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study seeks to evaluate perceived institutional support and attitudes exhibited by academics towards the integration of students with disabilities (SWDs) in Tourism Higher Education Institutions (THEIs). The willingness of academics in accommodating SWDs and their interest in furthering professional development for the education of SWDs will also be assessed. A survey was randomly distributed to academic staffs in THEIs with a resulting 310 responses. A Path-Analysis model was implemented using Amos 25 for the testing and validation of research hypotheses. Results indicated positive attitudes among academics towards SWDs with a general willingness to accommodate and integrate them in THEIs. Findings also indicated that the institutional support academic perceive has a significant influence on academics as well as their willingness to support SWDs. This study suggests the strengthening of support and development of training for academics in relation to the education of SWDs. These suggestions and their practical implications for THEIs are detailed in this study. To the author's knowledge, this study will be the first investigation in discussing the academics perspective on the integration of SWDs in THEIs. The results obtained from this study would therefore contribute towards more future literature in this regard..

show abstract

Enabling disability inclusive practices within the University of Cape Town curriculum: A case study

Cited by 13 publications

References 32 publications

Undergraduate Disabled Students as Knowledge Producers including Researchers: A Missed Topic in Academic Literature

Undergraduate Disabled Students as Knowledge Producers including Researchers: A Missed Topic in Academic Literature

Universal Design for Learning and Disability Inclusion in South African Higher Education Curriculum

Integration of Students with Disabilities in Egyptian Tourism Higher Education Institutions (THEIs): An Academic Perspective

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About