Abstract:
Against the background of the recent move towards inclusion in South Africa, ten mainstream primary school teachers with a learner with Down’s syndrome in their classrooms took part in a research programme
which aims to identify stressors for teachers in an inclusive educational approach and coping skills employed to ameliorate the negative effect of these stressors. Teachers' knowledge, attitudes,
stressors and coping skills were qualitatively analysed with the help
of semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire. Preliminary findings
indicate that stressors experienced and coping skills vary. The variation appears to be related not only to their perceived professional and personal ability to handle the needs of the learners but also to external factors such as collaboration with support groups and parents.
