‘It’s not my problem’: exploring lecturers’ distancing behaviour towards students with disabilities

Jaarsveldt, Deirdre E. van; Ndeya-Ndereya, Charity N.

doi:10.1080/09687599.2014.994701

Cited by 39 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…South African scholars Engelbrecht and Green (2011) define ‘inclusive education as educational policies and practices that uphold the right of learners with disabilities to belong and to learn in mainstream education’ (p. 4). Moriña and colleagues have argued that learning environments should be as inclusive as possible not only for the purposes of fostering a sense of belonging for all learners, including SWDs, but also for fostering full participation in the learning process and offering equal opportunities and quality learning for all these students (Moriña, Cortés & Melero 2013 , cited in Van Jaarsveldt & Ndeya-Ndereya 2015 :2).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Ginsberg and Wlodkowski ( 2009 ), an accessible university-built environment gives SWDs a sense of belonging in the form of ‘welcome[ ing ] a diversity of learners and cause them to feel safe, capable and accepted, thus enhancing their overall learning experience’ (cited in Van Jaarsveldt & Ndeya-Ndereya 2015 :2). It is perhaps the opposite of being wholeheartedly welcomed into a place to be forced to enter or exit an educational or residential building from the back.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wheelchair users, access and exclusion in South African higher education

Chiwandire¹,

Vincent²

2017

Afr. j. disabil.

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BackgroundSouth Africa’s Constitution guarantees everyone, including persons with disabilities, the right to education. A variety of laws are in place obliging higher education institutions to provide appropriate physical access to education sites for all. In practice, however, many buildings remain inaccessible to people with physical disabilities.ObjectivesTo describe what measures South African universities are taking to make their built environments more accessible to students with diverse types of disabilities, and to assess the adequacy of such measures.MethodWe conducted semi-structured in-depth face-to-face interviews with disability unit staff members (DUSMs) based at 10 different public universities in South Africa.ResultsChallenges with promoting higher education accessibility for wheelchair users include the preservation and heritage justification for failing to modify older buildings, ad hoc approaches to creating accessible environments and failure to address access to toilets, libraries and transport facilities for wheelchair users.ConclusionSouth African universities are still not places where all students are equally able to integrate socially. DUSMs know what ought to be done to make campuses more accessible and welcoming to students with disabilities and should be empowered to play a leading role in sensitising non-disabled members of universities, to create greater awareness of, and appreciation for, the multiple ways in which wheelchair user students continue to be excluded from full participation in university life. South African universities need to adopt a systemic approach to inclusion, which fosters an understanding of inclusion as a fundamental right rather than as a luxury.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wheelchair users, access and exclusion in South African higher education

Chiwandire¹,

Vincent²

2017

Afr. j. disabil.

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“…Some lecturers sampled in Lyner-Cleophas's (2016) study justified their failure to adequately engage with and support SWDs on the basis that they were ill-prepared to teach SWDs. This has resulted in some lecturers intentionally dodging their responsibility to support SWDs by constantly referring SWDs to Disability Units (van Jaarsveldt & Ndeya-Ndereya, 2015; see also Howell 2005). DUSMs from various South African universities themselves have complained about lecturers' constant referral of SWDs to Disability Units as unjustifiably increasing the workload of these Units, which are already understaffed and struggling to cope with job burnout (Chiwandire 2020).…”

Section: Non-inclusive Curriculummentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This indicates that although South Africa has numerous disability policies that provide rights for SWDs to access inclusive education, these policies still lack guiding frameworks, which 'results in universities approaching disability differently, resulting in ad hoc and uncoordinated efforts towards disability matters' (Mutanga & Walker 2017: 8). This has also been exacerbated by the fact that most HEIs do not have structures in place that hold to account lecturers who do not adhere to their legislation, policies and procedures relating to inclusive education (van Jaarsveldt & Ndeya-Ndereya 2015).…”

Section: Inclusive Curriculummentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Chiwandire¹

2019

Alternation

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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.

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“…Furthermore, locally, in Africa, Van Jaarsveldt and Ndeya-Ndereya ( 2015 ) identified technological barriers, a lack of awareness and poor liaison among the institutional stakeholders and lecturers who distanced themselves from the responsibility of providing learner support to students with disabilities as the challenges that students with disabilities faced. Research has shown that students with disabilities feel they have to work harder than other students, because they have to manage a double workload – their disability and their studies (Gorman 1999 ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forgotten, excluded or included? Students with disabilities: A case study at the University of Mauritius

2017

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BackgroundStudents with disabilities in the tertiary education sector are more than a just a phenomenon, they are a reality. In general, little attention is devoted to their needs despite the fact that they need more care and attention.ObjectivesThis paper, through a case study at the University of Mauritius, sought to answer some pertinent questions regarding students with disabilities. Does the University of Mauritius have sufficient facilities to support these students? Are students aware of existing facilities? What additional structures need to be put in place so that students with any form of disability are neither victimised, nor their education undermined? Are there any local laws about students with disabilities in higher education?MethodTo answer these questions and others, an online questionnaire was sent to 500 students and the responses were then analysed and discussed. The response rate was 24.4% which showed that students were not reticent to participate in this study.ResultsOur survey revealed that most students were not aware of existing facilities and were often neglected in terms of supporting structures and resources. ICT facilities were found to be the best support that is provided at the University of Mauritius. The right legal framework for tertiary education was also missing.ConclusionIdeally, students with disabilities should have access to special facilities to facilitate their learning experiences at tertiary institutions. Awareness about existing facilities must also be raised in order to offer equal opportunities to them and to enable a seamless inclusion.

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‘It’s not my problem’: exploring lecturers’ distancing behaviour towards students with disabilities

Cited by 39 publications

References 9 publications

Wheelchair users, access and exclusion in South African higher education

Wheelchair users, access and exclusion in South African higher education

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

Forgotten, excluded or included? Students with disabilities: A case study at the University of Mauritius

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