INTRODUCTION TO IE

OVERVIEW
1. First activity: reflection and brainstorming
1. Critical questions
2. What is IE and why do we have it in teacher education? S3 – S7
2. Context and Background
3. Conceptual knowledge: what IE is or not
4. Further reading: Unit 1
Critical questions
Values and attitudes explored
• What is it to be human?
• What do we make of difference?
• To what extent are all learners valued?
• How does schooling reinforce inequality?
• To what extent can schools help overcome inequality and challenge
discrimination?
• Who are the learners at risk of marginalisation in schools?
Reading self in respect to schools, learners and social justice
Barriers to learning
1. What is IE and why do we
have it in teacher education?
What is inclusive education
• IE is a philosophy (world view) in education that
recognises that all children/learners/human beings
can and/or do at any given point in their lives
experience barriers to learning
• IE originally focussed on pple with disabilities
(broad concept); now expanded to embrace those
with risk to marginalisation and exclusion for
whatever reason.
• The key aim is support

5
Why IE?
• National and international calls
• A need to include those who are or have been
excluded

• UNICEF
• UNESCO
• WHO

6
What IE entails
• Addresses barriers to learning and participation: key question>how do
schools respond to diversity associated with ability, gender, race,
ethnicity, language, care status, socioeconomic status, disability,
sexuality, or religion (Gerschel, 2003).
• Why such a broad approach? The factors interact or act in combination
and can result ultimately in marginalisation or exclusion. Focusing on a
single factor, such as disability in isolation, has the potential to lead to
faulty assumptions (Topping and Maloney, 2005).
• Policies on inclusion should not be restricted only to the education of
pupils identified as having special educational needs (Booth and
Ainscow, 1998). There is a wide range of vulnerable or at-risk groups
(vulnerable to marginalisation and exclusion).

7
LEVELS OF MARGINALISATION/DISCRIMINATION AND
PREJUDICE

IP PREJUDICE Assumed P Assumed V

1. LANGUAGE LINGUICISM E AND F ANY OTHER
LANGUAGE
2. RACE RACISM WHITE BLACK
3. RELIGION ANTI-SEMITISM MOSLEM CHRISTIAN
4. GENDER/SEX SEXISM MALES FEMALES
5. ability, Ableism Able bodied Disabled people
6. Ethnicity and Xenophobia B sa B african
origin,
7. care status, 8. Ableism Healthy, young Elderly; sick
socioeconomic Classism Rich Poor
status,
9. sexuality, Homophobia heterosexual Homosexual

8
Sum =
• “Educational inclusion is ‘more than a concern with one group of
pupils such as those who have been or are likely to be excluded from
school… It is about equal opportunities for all children and young
people whatever their age, gender, ethnicity, attainment or
background’

9
2. Context and Background
Development of IE in SA:
Legislation and policies
• The Constitution of South Africa (Act no: 108 of 1996)
• National Education Policy Act (Act 27 of 1996) All policies published in
terms of this act should ensure the imbalances of the Apartheid system of
governance are addressed
• These policies include:
• C2000
• C2005
• The National Curriculum Statement Gr R – 12 (2002)
• Revised National Curriculum Statement
• CAPS
• The White Paper on Early Childhood Education (2001)
• The White Paper on Inclusive Education (2001)

11
Education White paper 6
• Questions:
• (i) What is the key focus of this policy?
• (ii) In view of above, how inclusive is EWP6?
• (iii) What do you think could have driven and informed this focus?
• (iv) If given a chance to review this document, what could you add,
remove or expand and why?

12
International context: Civil Rights
movement and IE

1960s signalled a lot of • (c) issues of equality of

changes access and educational
opportunity gained
• (a) world-wide civil rights impetus and integration
movement questioned the became centre stage. (d)
system of parallel provision Political pressure from
(b) People with disabilities disability and parental
challenged the stigmatising advocacy groups began to
and limiting nature of change society’s values and
segregated education, and would ultimately bring
gave voice to their anger legislative changes to
and dissatisfaction, reform education.

13
Legislation and policy
• The National Policy Framework for Teacher Education (2007) says that the
identification and addressing of barriers to learning should be a key
component of all teacher education at pre-service and in-service levels.
• Also the Draft Policy on the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education
Qualifications (2010) emphasises the critical need for all teachers to be
conversant with the requirements of implementing inclusive education
practice.

14
Monitoring
• Monitoring bodies- to monitor implementation of programmes that
give life to inclusive education legislation and policy. These include the
following:
• Office on the Status of Disabled Persons
• Joint Monitoring Committee/Portfolio Committee on women,
children, youth and people with disabilities
• South African Human Rights Commission

15
3. Way forward: Inclusive
Education, what is it?
AGAIN: What is inclusive
education
• IE is a philosophy (world view) in education that
recognises that all children/learners/human beings
can at any given point in their lives experience
barriers to learning
• IE originally focussed on pple with disabilities
(broad concept); now expanded to embrace those
with risk to marginalisation and exclusion for
whatever reason.
• The key aim is support

17
Barriers to learning
• A barrier to learning is anything that impinges on learners’ ability to learn, (and
by extension, the educator’s ability to teaching in a manner that ensures
learning). There are many such barriers and as a way of guiding our
understanding around them, a framework is used whereby we examine such
barriers categorically.
• Even in the absence of Special Educational Needs, learners could/can still
experience barriers to learning.
• Therefore, every learner no matter how intelligent or less so they might be could
require some aspect of support

18
SA realities
• List as many things as you can that in your experience are barriers to
learning
• Distribute your items into categories e.g. which of those are medical
barriers?
• What are barriers to learning?

19
4 Categories of barriers to
learning
what and how?
1. Pedagogical
2. Societal
3. Systemic
4. Individual/Medical
Pedagogic Barriers to learning
• Largely based on lack of understanding on the part of instructors, facilitators
about:
1. how learning takes place; the benefits of learner-centred teaching and active learning;
2. diversity among learners in terms of learning style and preferred types of learning
activities and information;
3. and learners' needs for relevancy in content, recognition of prior learning, respect from
others, and a responsive lifelong learning system.
These could lead to learning receiving (i) insufficient support of educators, (ii)
inappropriate and unfair assessment procedures, and (iii) inflexible curriculum
which will in turn cause barriers to learning

21
Teacher knowledge
MRTEQ (Minimum requirements for teacher
education qualification stipulations
SHULMAN TYPOLOGY OF TEACHER
KNOWLEDGE A mix of knowledge(s) that
enable teachers to perform
• Content knowledge their roles and competences:
• Pedagogic knowledge Teachers as knowledge
• Pedagogic content knowledge professionals should have
1. Disciplinary knowledge
• Metaknowledge/contextual/
2. Pedagogical k
• Technological knowledge
3. Practical K
4. Fundamental K
5. Situational K
22
MRTEQ
• Clearly accounts for envisaged competences for a beginner teacher: B
Ed FET and PGCE FET in this instance
• In the policy space for and emphasis on the need to develop inclusive
education competence is key
• Newly qualified teachers must know who their learners are and how they
learn; they must understand their individual needs and tailor their
teaching accordingly.
• Newly qualified teachers must understand diversity in the South African
context in order to teach in a manner that includes all learners. They must
also be able to identify learning or social problems and work in partnership
with professional service providers to address these.

23
Systemic barriers to learning
Problems in the educational system that contribute to conditions that
cause barriers to learning.
• Lack of basic and appropriate learning support materials
• Lack of assistive devices
• Inadequate facilities at schools
• Overcrowded classrooms
• Lack of mother tongue educators

24
MEDICAL BARRIERS

• Disabilities
• Health conditions
• Problems in learning

25
Medical barriers to learning
•1. Sensory
NOTE: Disabilities/conditions/impairments (???),
2. Neurological
1. Soft evidence
Disabilities,
3. Physical
2. Hard evidence
Disabilities,
4. Learning Disabilities.
??????
5. Intellectual disabilities
6. Health conditions (chronic illnesses and others)

26
Important questions
re:individual/medical barriers to
learning
1. What is the level of the 3. Types and sub-types?
difficulty/disability> • Overt or covert?
• runs on a continuum: 4.Manifestations/Characteristics of
Mild>Moderate> Severe>Profound learners with the
• Progressive or non-progressive? disability/condition/difficulty?
• Temporary or permanent? 5. Educational implications>what is
2. Aetiology/ Origin/ Cause amenable to educational
intervention and how?
Varied, at times unknown

27
(i) Societal and Systemic barriers (iv) Answering the question of
to learning inclusion
(ii) Inclusion and social: What
necessitates the pairing?
(iii) Revisiting the principles

28
Societal barriers to learning
• Can differ from community to community. Relativity; fluidity
• Although poverty is one of the issues discussed more often discussed, the neglect
of learners in wealthier households can also cause barriers to learning and
development. The issues listed below are instrumental to a large variety of
barriers experienced by many learners.
• Severe poverty; Late Enrolment; Gangs/Violence in neighbourhoods and at
home; Gender Issues in cultural groups and society; Attitudes

29
Values and Key principles of
Inclusive Education: Why support? 
• Rights
• Participation
• Process
• Values
• Diversity
• Equality
• Change
• Compassion
• Respect for diversity
• Social Justice
30
Further reading
Hardman, F. 2015. Background paper prepared for the Education for All
Global Monitoring Report 2015: Education for All 2000-2015:
achievements and challenges Making pedagogical practices visible in
discussions of educational quality
Engelbrecht, A., Swanepoel, H., Nel, M., & Hugo, A. 2015 Embracing
Diversity through multi-level teaching for Foundation, Intermediate
and Senior Phase. Cape Town: Juta and Company Ltd.