Making Inclusion Work: Teacher Characteristics as Critical Determinants of Education for Learners with Physical Disability in Inclusive Primary Schools in Western Kenya.

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue II, February 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Making Inclusion Work: Teacher Characteristics as Critical Determinants of Education for Learners with Physical Disability in Inclusive Primary Schools in Western Kenya.

Hesborn M. Chonge and Esther N. Kiaritha
Moi University, Kenya

ABSTRACT
Since independence in Kenya, there have been several policies and working papers concerning education for the pupils with physical disability and generally inclusive education such as the Sector Policy for Learners and Trainees with Disabilities (2018). However, even with all this, the academic performance of learners with physical disability in inclusive schools continue to record low performance compared to those without disability. Inclusive education was supposed to provide learners to provide equal educational opportunities to both learners with and without physical disability. The objective of this paper therefore was to determine the influence of teacher characteristics which included attitude, satisfaction and teaching strategies on academic performance of learners with physical disability in Western Kenya inclusive schools. The study employed a convergent parallel mixed method design in five inclusive schools for pupils with physical disability. Data was generated from among 65 teachers, 52 pupils with physical disability and 73 regular pupils by use of a questionnaire and an observation guide. For inclusion to be successful as a framework, this scrutiny is required in order to improve the learners’ overall academic outcomes.

Key Words: Inclusion; Determinants; Physical Disability

1.0 Introduction

By and large, the term disability is utilized to allude to singular working, including physical debilitation, sensory weakness, impairments related to cognition, intellectual disability, illnesses related to mental state and different kinds of chronic sickness (Nazarov & Lee, 2012). Disability can likewise be said to be a condition or capacity decided to be essentially impeded comparative with the typical norm of an individual or group (Disabled World, 2019). The World Health Organization (2011) views disability as any limitation or absence of ability to do an activity in the way or within the reach considered typical for an individual. Physical disability is an impediment on an individual’s actual working, movement or endurance. Garden (2010) notes that physical disability influences how an individual controls body movement.

According to the Salamanca Statement, each child is qualified for the right to education (Kiru & Cooc, 2018). Children who have disability of any kind are not exempted from the statement. The Salamanca Statement additionally voices that the unique capacities, interests, adapting necessities and abilities of children with disabilities ought to be put into consideration in the arrangement of inclusive education provision to the children. This suggests that the unique capacities and characteristics of the children with disability ought to be considered to guarantee that they have equivalent admittance to schooling actually like those without disability. Consequently, majority of countries are encouraging equality for learners with disabilities and promote inclusive education as the preferred option. Considered in general terms, inclusive schooling addresses a shift from a teaching approach that works for most learners to one that includes the production of learning openings for each learner. The Ministry of Education (2018), through the Sector Policy for Learners and Trainees with Disabilities argues that inclusivity in education turns into an overall standard, upholding for the right of learners with disability to be placed in regular classrooms along with their peers without disability. In this way, to address variety of difficulties in classrooms, it is important that instructors adjust their practices of instruction. A significant requirement for adaptable instruction is instructors’ analytic ability, which is viewed as a focal component of professionalism of a teacher (Artelt & Rausch, 2014).
Earlier research in inclusive schooling recurrently assessed the academic results of learners concerning learning. Most of these examinations demonstrated that learners with special education needs accomplish higher performance in academics in inclusive school settings than in special schools (Oh-Young & Filler, 2015). For regular pupils, no academic performance difference was observed between non-inclusive classes and inclusive classes in a study by Ruijs et al. (2010). Nonetheless, concerns have been raised about the academic ramifications of policies of inclusion on management of schools and fruitful learning (Koster et al., 2010). Studies done globally also have raised worries about the policies of inclusion on academic performance (McCoy & Banks, 2012). In actual fact, as indicated by Steen et al. (2012), learners with disability typically perform lower than regular learners academically on standardized tests.

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