Teaching strategies utilized by non-special education teachers in inclusive further education and training classrooms

Abstract

The Policy Document, Education White Paper 6 (Department of Education, 2001) states that all learners irrespective of their barriers to learning and development, have a right to be educated in ordinary schools, together with their peers. The inclusion of learners who are deaf/hearing impaired in mainstream Further Education and Training (FET) classrooms means that these learners are no longer being taught by special educators who are trained to cater for their special needs. In this study the learners are taught in regular classrooms by non-special education subject teachers who have had no formal training in how to teach learners with special needs specifically learners who are deaf/hearing impaired. A qualitative exploratory design with multiple methods for data collection (questionnaires, informal discussions, nonparticipant classroom observations and video footage) was employed in this study. A non-random purposive sampling which consisted of three non-special education subject teachers who teach two learners who are deaf/hearing impaired in the Further Education and Training phase at two mainstream educational institutions participated in the research. The aim of this study was to explore the kind of strategies these teachers use when they mediate learning in classrooms where there are deaf/hearing impaired learners. The study has indicated that while the educators might express a lack of confidence in their abilities, they do cater for the needs of deaf/hearing impaired learners who experience barriers to learning albeit in different ways.