Department of Educational Psychology

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Browsing Department of Educational Psychology by Author "Banoo, Nazia"

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    Final year B.Ed. students’ views on their preparation to practice inclusive education in their future classrooms
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Banoo, Nazia; Dreyer, Lorna M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Educational Psychology.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : The practise of Inclusive Education has become widespread internationally. South Africa too has opted to follow this paradigm shift in including learners with special needs into mainstream classrooms. Research has indicated that there is a correlation between teacher training and their attitudes towards the implementation of inclusive education. As most teacher training programmes in South Africa, include modules on inclusive education, it has become necessary to establish students‟ perceptions regarding their readiness to implement inclusive education strategies. Positioned within qualitative research, this single case study design viewed the perceptions of final year students through the lens of Vygotsky‟s socio-constructivist lens. The aim was to understand how teacher training have equipped students to address Inclusive Education in schools. In order to understand their perspectives, a qualitative interpretive paradigm was used interpret the data collected. Participants were purposely recruited from amongst final year Bachelor of Education students (pre-service teachers) at a university within the Western Cape in South Africa. Data was collected through semi-structured individual interviews and a Focus-Group discussion. The data was analysed using a qualitative thematic analysis process. Four themes emerged from the data. The results of the study showed that participants generally felt positive and confident towards including learners with special needs into their future classrooms. However they feel particularly uncertain about handling disciplinary issues within the school setting. Participants rated the theory from their undergraduate degree as excellent but felt that they needed more time on the topic of discipline and more individualised feedback from their teaching practical. Recommendations that emanate from these findings included that the B. Ed programme should include more content and specific strategies to address discipline in classrooms.