Barriers to school inclusion : a case study of a public Maldivian school / Dhiyana Ahmed Didi

Abstract

Due to the focus on inclusive education, students who were previously designated to specialist forms of provision are now part of mainstream classrooms. Nevertheless, it is argued that teachers lack the necessary knowledge and skills to teach inclusively and that, schools are not provided with the facilities and the resources to cater for inclusive education. Hence there is a need to find out whether the schools in our education system are ready for inclusive education and challenges faced in implementing the policy effectively. The present research is a qualitative case study of Inclusive education for teaching Special Educational Needs (SEN) students in mainstream classrooms. It explores the perception of primary grade teachers and leading teachers towards the inclusive education and challenges faced in implementing inclusive education in the school. Data was collected via the research tool of semi structured interview with the four regular teachers, two Special Education Needs teachers and two leading teachers of primary grades. The data obtained was analysed by using thematic analysis. The key findings of the research show that the research participants have a negative attitude towards inclusive education, not ready to handle and teach special education needs students in their classes. Participants raised apprehensions such as inadequate training in special education needs, lack of pedagogies and skills required to teach special education needs students, high student-teacher ratio of the classes and shortage of resources as barriers for successful implementation of inclusive education. The interrelationship between these factors and successful implementation of inclusive education stimulates strategies and actions that need to be taken to improve the current condition in this school.