Reforms needed for the operationalisation of inclusive education in ordinary schools in Zimbabwe

Journal Title: Scientific Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences - Year 2015, Vol 4, Issue 10

Abstract

Special Needs Education has evolved from segregation to main streaming and then to inclusion of students with disabilities. This evolutionary process was fuelled by the social need for equality of humanity. This process has been met with fierce idealogical resistance from certain social quotas. The most radical and dynamic changes in Special Needs Education to date, which have withstood such resistance, are those that relate to inclusive education. In response to changes characterising inclusive education, drastic reforms have been experienced in those countries such as the USA and the United Kingdom. These countries have been used as models for the implementation of genuine inclusion of students with disabilities into ordinary schools. This treatise examines reforms of the ordinary school that would save as necessary conditions for successful inclusive education in developing countries such as Zimbabwe. Such reforms relate to the organization and philosophy of the school, the physical and social environment, resourcing, curriculum and policy change processes. Examples from Zimbabwe are used to guide the discussion and the terms ‘inclusive education’, ‘major reforms’ and ‘mainstream/ordinary school’ are immediately defined in order to operationalize the topic. Some of the main reasons for failure of inclusive education in developing countries such as Zimbabwe have been lack of political will and negative social attitudes towards people with disabilities. In the ultimate analysis, the paper concludes that, for inclusive education to operate or function, there is need for a revolutionary change of attitude toward people with disabilities at political, social and professional levels. This should be punctuated with restructuring of the school infrastructure and mainstream curriculum, mainstreaming of social and educational policies to become disability friendly and improved resourcing. Teachers should be re-capacitated to face the challenges that go with inclusive education and community ownership of inclusive initiatives, guided my national policy and support is proposed.

Authors and Affiliations

P. Sibanda*| Open University, Zimbabwe.

Keywords

Related Articles

Teacher pedagogical knowledge in mathematics: a tool for addressing learning problems

This paper attempts to give a pedagogical role a classroom teacher is suppose to play in disseminating and imparting of mathematical knowledge. To achieve this, the paper focuses on the concept of teacher pedagogy, ped...

Logistic regression on consumption of rice (case study of Offa local government Offa, Kwara State, Nigeria)

This research work is on logistic regression on consumption of locally and imported rice using Offa local government, Kwara state as case study, it aimed to establish a model that can use to predict Age, Income, Expend...

Prevention of noise damages causes by shooting fire of Kalashnikov (AK-47) rifle by regulation of suitable distance

The aims of this study were control of rifle shooting noise by regulation of suitable distance and investigation of frequency characteristic of the noise caused by single Kalashnikov rifle (AK-47) in an open shooting f...

Studying the effectiveness of cognitive group therapy based on imaginative exposure in social phobia of university stude

This research was accomplished with aim of studying the:effectiveness of cognitive group therapy based on imaginative exposure in social phobia of Payam Noor university students. The design was pretest-posttest with co...

Tawanda’s non- iterative optimal tree algorithm for shortest route problems

So many algorithms have been proposed to solve the shortest path in road networks, in this paper, an algorithm is developed to solve shortest route problems. The algorithm is being demonstrated through solving of vario...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP444
  • DOI 10.14196/sjpas.v4i10.1909
  • Views 547
  • Downloads 20

How To Cite

P. Sibanda* (2015). Reforms needed for the operationalisation of inclusive education in ordinary schools in Zimbabwe. Scientific Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences, 4(10), 185-192. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-444