Abstract:
Inclusive education has become a practice that has been adopted by many schools
across the globe and most usually in first-world countries. As a whole-school
system, it occurs less frequently in developing countries including South Africa
which unlike many developing countries has a sound infrastructure and many
excellent schools in both the state and the independent sectors. Education White
Paper 6: Special education: Building an inclusive education and training system
was published in 2001 with the express intention of developing an inclusive
education system in South Africa. Some South African independent schools have
successfully implemented valuable forms of inclusion in their schools and this is
the phenomenon that was studied. This study reveals various aspects of the
inclusive process including the pivotal role that principals play in the
transformation process of which inclusive education is the harbinger. It also
analyses why principals choose to embrace a paradigm that on the surface is
uncomfortable and not an easy option. We used narrative research as
methodology for this qualitative research. The basic tenet was that inclusion
leads to belonging and excellence in education. The major findings were that
inclusion to most principals was about taking action, humanity and emotion. The
principals also described inclusion as personal and pragmatic. The implications
for action are of interest not only to principals, but to anyone who is seriously
interested in innovative and more humane forms of anti-oppressive education.
