Challenges of foundation phase teachers to include Learners with learning difficulties in a mainstream school

Abstract

A larger portion of learners with difficulties in South Africa were either not included in mainstream schools or could have been allowed into the schools unconsciously in the past. In a bid to provide a panacea to the obstacles faced by learners with learning difficulties this research aimed at examining challenges faced by mainstream school teachers in teaching learners with learning difficulties. The study used the social learning theory and Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory to interpret the challenges faced by mainstream teachers in teaching learners with learning difficulties. A qualitative research technique was employed in the study guided by an interpretivist paradigm. Purposive sampling was used to select a total of eight participants. In this study, eight participants were selected from two primary schools which cover Foundation Phase in Johannesburg Central Education District. In each school, four participants that is three teachers and one Head of Department were selected. Telephonic semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. Data were analysed using thematic data analysis technique. The research findings showed that teachers in South Africa were regarded as less helpful when it comes to helping learners with learning difficulties. Some of the learners with learning challenges were removed from mainstream schools and this violates the key dictates of Inclusive Education (IE). The challenges faced by teachers were lack of parental involvement, lack of resources, poor background of learners, high teacher to learner ratio, social, behavioural and intellectual problems. Apart from that, lack of resources, poor support from the District Based Support Teams and School Based Support Systems (SBST) and absenteeism. In terms of policy recommendations, it is suggested that, community awareness programmes, teacher training programmes and resource mobilisation can be very helpful in solving teacher challenges.