Inclusion Practices in Elementary Physical Education: A Social-cognitive Perspective

Abstract

This study explored inclusion practices in general physical education (GPE) from the experiences and perspectives of elementary physical education teachers. The stories of four teachers (two females, two males) between 27 and 57 years of age were gathered using the phenomenological methods of semi-structured interviews, photographs, school documents, and field notes. Bandura's social-cognitive theory provided a conceptual framework to interpret the findings of this inquiry. Three themes emerged from the thematic analysis: engaging in learning; adapting strategies to meet students' needs; and moving beyond the educational goals. The findings suggest that inclusion practices (teacher's behaviours) in GPE were constructed by the dynamic interactions between teachers' knowledge of disability and motivation to learn about their students (personal factors) and children's needs and learning goals (environment).

Inclusion of Children With Disabilities in Physical Education in Zimbabwean Primary Schools

“…School Development Committee Associations and community and church leadership promoted inclusion in PE through mediation in the face of parental resistance or absence of cooperation in the education of children. This finding resonates with past research that demonstrates that inclusion involves confrontation and countering of dominance of specific movement forms, understanding of ability and desired corporeality that excludes children with disabilities (An & Meaney, 2015;Grenier, 2011;Qi & Ha, 2012). Similarly, inclusive pedagogy expects teachers to view children's difficulties in learning as professional challenges rather than deficits to develop innovative ways of working (Donnelly & Watkins, 2011;Florian & Linklater, 2010).…”

“…Social justice addresses barriers to parity in participation within three distinct but interrelated domains, particularly, recognition, redistribution, and representation (Fraser, 2010). Recognition deals with cultural dimensions and, in PE, it involves confronting and countering the dominance of specific movement forms, understandings of ability and desired corporeality that may exclude children with disabilities (An & Meaney, 2015;Grenier, 2011;Qi & Ha, 2012). Redistribution deals with economic barriers and facilitating access to educational goods and cultural capital (Lingard & Keddie, 2013).…”

Actitudes y creencias hacia la discapacidad en clases de educación física. Una cuestión educativa

“…Centrados en el ámbito escolar, y especialmente en el de la actividad física, los planteamientos pedagógicos y docentes deben valorar tanto la interdependencia como la independencia (An y Meaney, 2015;Caus y Santos, 2011, González y Baños, 2012, entendiendo la diversidad del alumnado como una oportunidad para favorecerse la integración e inclusión, generando y potenciando actitudes activas a través de la gran variedad de oportunidades que ofrecen las clases de actividad física (juegos, ejercicios y actividades, etc.) (Futornyi, 2013).…”

“…En este sentido, los alumnos con discapacidad prefieren la inclusión en las clases de educación física, dado que les proporciona la oportunidad de beneficiarse de la realización de mayor número y diversidad de actividades y de compartir en mayor medida con sus compañeros sin discapacidad (An y Meaney, 2015;Goodwin y Watkinson, 2000), en lugar de otros planteamientos que han supuesto barreras o limitaciones para el desarrollo e inclusión (Bebetsos et al, 2014). …”

“…Educar en la diversidad significa ejercer los principios de igualdad y equidad a los que todo ser humano tiene derecho (An y Meaney, 2015;Madrid, Sánchez y García 2011), lo que conlleva desarrollar la implicación en el diseño y puesta en marcha de estrategias de enseñanza-aprendizaje, que personalicen la enseñanza en un marco y dinámica de trabajo para todos, así como de adaptaciones ambientales, con el propósito de que los alumnos se sientan incluidos en la vida del aula, del centro y de la comunidad a la que pertenecen (Calvo, Pérez-Tejero y Löpez, 2015;Coates y Vickerman, 2013;Muntaner, 2000;Park, Koh, y Block, 2014) .…”