Teachers' Perspectives on Inclusive Education

What is Inclusive Education? explained that inclusive education helps removing the prejudice and stigma of disability. Moreover, education is essential for combating poverty (see Overview of Poverty in Uganda and Poverty and Disability) even a small gain in education can help reduce poverty. With this in mind, educating everyone in Uganda is of the utmost importance. 

Inclusive education has many other benefits for those involved (see Uganda: The Importance of an Inclusive Education), for instance fostering friendships between children with disabilities (CWDs) and their non disabled peers. Uganda has supported inclusive education since 1991 (see Inclusive Education in Uganda). In the light of the importance of inclusive education this blog post examines the experiences of teachers working in the inclusive or integrated class.

The 2002 research paper, Teachers’ and Pupils’ Experiences of Integrated Education in Uganda, offers an insight into teaching in the integrated setting in Uganda:

Under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme in Uganda, which was implemented in 1997, the idea of integrated education was put into practice. Today children with disabilities are enrolled in regular primary schools in the whole country. After three years of experience with UPE, the aim of this study was to examine the views of teachers about their needs for training and support regarding the task of teaching children with disabilities in ordinary classrooms. A qualitative approach was chosen using individual interviews, focus group discussions with teachers, pupils and head teachers, and observations in classrooms. Three primary schools in different districts of Uganda were selected as research sites. 

Sadly children's focus groups were not included in this research, but the experience of the teachers is illuminating. Many teachers started off with negative attitudes towards CWDs but came to appreciate and understand the children with whom they were working. The following sections details the experiences of teachers under common themes. (It should be noted that to maintain anonymity the three schools where teacher were interviewed were named School A, School B and School C):

 1. Problems. 

Two main problem areas were repeatedly mentioned by the participants. One related to the high teacher–pupil ratio which resulted in (a) insufŽfcient space, (b) insufŽfcient furniture and teaching aids, and (c) diffŽiculties in class control.

… if you have very many children because it can be difŽfcult for you to help this one child within that class because you have to mark the others, you are teaching, you have to go to another class … because he needs special attention. (Interview, School A)

The other was related to the lack of teacher training and special teaching aids for children with disabilities.

We need those improvements like Braillers, they are very important because they can help much in teaching those children … (Interview, School A)

2. Needs and competencies.

The teachers spoke about what they needed to be able to cope with the situation in their classes. These were partly material needs but they also referred to their own lack of skills and competence. These feelings were closely linked with the teachers’ confidence regarding their particular skills and competencies. Thus separating needs from competencies in the analysis proved problematic and so it was decided to group them together.

The material needs expressed by the teachers referred to the physical conditions (more classrooms, furniture, a hostel/boarding facility, facilities for vocational training), teaching aids, special aids for children with disabilities, and material support.

The Ž financial needs included a better salary and Ž financial support for the schools. As sources for this support teachers mentioned the government, donations from overseas, and non-government organisations.

Another group of needs included the need for more teachers, for special teachers, and their own training needs. Teachers expressed concern about the quality of education and were aware of their own lack of skills.

Teachers in all three schools assessed their own ability to teach children with disabilities and mentioned their competencies. Although many teachers talked about their lack of technical skills (i.e., concerning sign language), most of them felt conŽfident in terms of identifying a disability and gave a variety of examples how they did this. Some teachers mentioned short courses that helped them or argued that simply their experiences as teachers or as parents and their love for children qualiŽfied them.

Head teachers were interviewed in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of the situation in each school, and to cross check the information from interviews and focus group discussions. Two themes from these interviews were especially interesting for triangulation: “coping strategies” and “needs”. Table I (not included) shows that a number of needs were mentioned by all groups of respondents, especially the material and Ž financial needs. The training needs were similarly considered important by all groups, particularly by the head teachers.

3. Teachers’ opinions about children with disabilities.

Many teachers described children with disabilities either in general terms or referred to a child known to them. As the responses in the three schools were different the examples given in Table II are grouped according to the schools. In the School C Focus Group there were more negative opinions expressed than in the other schools. Many teachers talked about their own attitude change since they Ž first had children with disabilities in their classes. They related their negative attitudes to their own lack of knowledge and ignorance. Teachers remembered they were “shocked” when Ž first meeting these children but gradually got used to them (see Table II).

TABLE II. Range of teachers’ opinions about children with disabilities Positive opinions

School A 
“blind children are bright” (I)
“pupils with hearing impairment always perform well” (I)
“pupils with mental retardation develop skills like weaving, football” (I)
“like to be loved” (I)
“they like physical education, to play with others, to integrate” (FG)
“they can learn when they see” (FG)
School B 
“they are very eager to learn” (I)
“can improve” (I)
School C 
“they are promising, they will make something” (I)
“some of them are bright” (I)
“they are good at drawings and like writing” (I)
“make progress” (I)
“they are quiet, not so wild” (FG)
“can copy from the blackboard” (FG)

Negative opinions
School A 
“can be stubborn and hit other pupils” (I)
School B 
“he is mentally disturbed” (I)
“just like a mad person” (I)
“difŽficult to interact with” (FG)
“hard to handle” (FG)
School C 
“braggart” (I)
“don’t talk well, short tempered, they like fighting” (I)
“can even abuse a teacher” (I)
“very rude, beat their friends, cannot talk” (FG)
“we fear them” (FG)
“they don’t contribute to the community” (FG)
“withdraw because of failing” (FG)
“have a problem of inferiority” (FG)
“don’t want to interact, are always aside” (FG)
“any time feels like going out of class” (FG)

Teachers’ change in attitude
School A 
“First I didn’t like it (laughs), because some are funny looking at Ž first. I thought how will I manage these children, but eventually I got used to these children. And I started loving them.” (I)
School B 
“At Ž first we thought that those children are useless in this country … Ž first we saw a girl when she does not talk… she does keep quiet, but when the student came here we started to know and we loved that girl, we loved her very much.” (I)

Note. I = Interview, FG = Focus Group 

4. Coping strategies. 

Teachers were not only conŽfident on how to identify a disability, they also gave a wide variety of responses concerning “coping strategies.” These suggestions can be summarised as follows: (a) physical conditions (positioning in front of the class), (b) grouping (according to ability), (c) individual attention (extra help, explanation), (d) adaptations (content, methods), (e) communication (sign language, gestures, simple language), and (f) social–emotional support (encouragement, love, integration in class).

Although teachers had various suggestions on how to respond to a variety of needs in their classes only a few instances occurred where those strategies could be observed (see Table III - not included). When cross checking the suggestions made by teachers concerning their coping strategies with the observations of classroom situations, obvious differences become apparent. The comparison shows that the teachers had some knowledge of what strategies might be used but only a small proportion of the coping strategies reported by the teachers were actually put into practice.

5. Teachers’ experiences with parents. 

Teachers reported positive attitude change in parents of children with disabilities concerning the inclusion of their children. Parents who had regarded their children as “useless” appreciated their school attendance after they had seen their behaviour and skills improving. The high enrolment of children with disabilities after the introduction of UPE was, in the eyes of the teachers an indicator of parents being in favour of schooling for their children with disabilities.

6. Teachers’ opinion about the relationship between children with and without disabilities.

Teachers had observed a positive attitude change in children after they had talked to them and they got used to each other. Teachers saw themselves as role models for integration.

7. Teachers’ opinions about integration and segregation.

Although teachers valued the social beneŽfits of integration they were aware of the low standard of schooling in UPE schools. They argued for a “good” school that can respond to children’s needs.

The following, "Teachers’ opinions about children with disabilities" provide an insight into why the teachers from School C expressed more negative opinions about teaching CWDs:

Many teachers described children with disabilities either in general terms or referred to a child known to them. As the responses in the three schools were different the examples given in Table II are grouped according to the schools. In the School C Focus Group there were more negative opinions expressed than in the other schools. Many teachers talked about their own attitude change since they Ž rst had children with disabilities in their classes. They related their negative attitudes to their own lack of knowledge and ignorance. Teachers remembered they were “shocked” when Ž rst meeting these children but gradually got used to them (see Table II)...

... By comparing responses from teachers in School C, where a wider range of opinions and practical examples were recorded, it became apparent that teachers who were clearly opposed to integration showed little concern about different needs in their classes and had negative opinions about children with disabilities. Teachers who had a positive opinion about integration responded to different needs in their classrooms and showed concern about children with all kinds of special needs, even after the lessons. The teachers’ perceptions of their own role and task seems to have a major impact on how they do their work, also regarding children with disabilities. 

Teachers in these schools are teaching in a learn as you go style. There is little doubt the teachers are working to the best of their ability but it is clear they need more support. The government should be making the investment in education because it has been shown that even a small amount if education can help people overcome poverty. Education is seen as an investment that people cannot afford, yet is money well invested. The report summary brings out some of these points:

In addition to the high teacher–pupil ratio, there is an alarming lack of resources in the schools and an urgent need for teacher training to meet special needs in the classroom. Despite these difficult conditions found in schools, many teachers had positive attitudes towards integrating children with disabilities, but only a few examples from the classroom observations showed good practice for meeting a diversity of needs.

The following observations provide an insight into the complexity of a fully integrated school. It is no wonder that teachers request more training and support:

Children with special needs other than those relating to impairments were in attendance at all three schools. For example, many children had lost their parents due to AIDS or had AIDS themselves. Child abuse by parents and relatives, poverty, hunger and different diseases were common problems. Some teachers showed concern for these children and tried to respond to their needs in some way. It was obvious that disability was only one problem amongst many other problems that these children had.

Most teachers acknowledged that if they were given more training they would be able to help their pupils more effectively:

The limited opportunities for training expressed by teachers and head teachers were obvious in all the schools. However, even teachers without special training seemed conŽfident that they could assess pupils’ special needs to a certain extent and they also seemed to know if they had the competence to meet these needs. Many teachers had clear ideas about what they would like to learn in order to be able to meet those needs.

Educating children with disabilities is a good investment because it reduces welfare costs and future dependence.

This July 2016 article, PWDs’ parents petition top schools for inclusion discusses making secondary school inclusive. There is still a lot of work to be done to make schools inclusive. Secondary schools are very expensive. The article says:

Parents to children with disabilities have called upon top schools in the country to offer services that accommodate all children despite their disability.

Narrating her experience with raising a deaf child, Dr. Joyce Nalugya Sserunjogi, the chairperson Board of Directors at The National Association of Parents of Deaf Children (NAPADEC) said it was very hard to find a good secondary school for her deaf daughter, since most of the good schools did not offer accommodative services.

Nalugya who is also a consultant psychiatrist at Mulago hospital said that she discovered that her daughter was deaf as early as six months.

"My husband and I started learning sign language when she was about nine months, so as to understand how to communicate with her," she said.

Although it was easy to get a primary school for the child, Nalugya said it was quite tricky enrolling her into a good secondary school.

"We visited several schools, including the international ones, but they would tell us that they do not take on such children. When we finally reached Merryland high school in Entebbe, they said they had never dealt with such, but were willing to do so if we oriented them on how to take care of that child," she added.

"The school gave us an entire day to create awareness before the child started school.
She was the first deaf child they ever taught, so we had to identify and interpreter."

Much as the fees became expensive for the family, since they had to pay the interpreters salary and accommodation fees, the family and the school reaped big from their investment.

Nalugya says that by the time the child reached senior four, all her classmates had learnt how to use sign language and would interpret for her whenever the interpreter would be away. She adds that the school has now enrolled three more speech impaired children.

She thus called upon government to extend inclusive education to schools that have showed excellence in education.

She was speaking at a consensus building workshop on inclusive education, organised by the ministry of education, UNICEF and the Uganda society for the disabled, at Metropole hotel in Kampala.

Also sharing her experience as a person with disability, Helen Grace Azambo, the Eastern region MP for people with disabilities said she left Makerere University because she would handle.
"While at Makerere University, I would climb stair cases to the lecturer room slowly, and by the time I reached there, the lecturers would be done. I left and went to Kyambogo," she said.

Nonetheless, the state minister for primary education Rosemary Sseninde pledged to advocate for the training of teachers in handling children with disability.

According to the 2014 housing and population census, 12 per cent of children aged 14 and below, are living with disabilities.

Despite a lack of resources and training, integrated or inclusive education is being implemented by teachers all over Uganda. This task is not simple. Teachers require more backup and more training. Everyone acknowledges that inclusive education is of great benefit to all concerned. The great value of education for all children is underestimated. It is hoped that more funding will become available for hard pressed teachers. This funding becomes more important because there is a desire to move inclusive education from primary to secondary schools.