Abstract:
Physical activities that include participating in sports or physical education (PE) have many benefits. Some of the benefits include improvement of social skills, motor development, and reducing stress. These benefits are also applicable to learners with any form of mental or physical barriers to learning, also known as special needs learners. Research conducted during my study contributes to the scholarly work of inclusive education in South Africa and assists in closing the gap in inclusive education in physical education. South Africa has a policy document (White Paper 6) and guidelines for schools on how to include learners with special needs in the education system. My study contributes to the education sector through sharing special needs teachers’ experiences on ways to adapt physical education lessons and to ensure that special needs learners are also benefiting from quality physical education.The purpose and focus of my study was to explore the experiences of foundation phase teachers who teach physical education to special needs learners in special schools in Gauteng.
Due to my study’s focus on gaining insight into the experiences of teachers teaching physical education to foundation phase special needs learners, the interpretivist paradigm was appropriate because I interpret the experiences of the physical education teachers to form an understanding of how they implement and adapt physical education for special needs learners. In addition, a qualitative research approach allowed me to discover in-depth research into physical education for foundation phase special needs learners by allowing me to interact with foundation phase special needs teachers to investigate their experiences and views on teaching physical education to special needs learners. The participants in my study were six foundation phase teachers who teach physical education to special needs learners in special schools. The research design chosen for my study was the phenomenological research design. I made use of multiple data collection methods: observations, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. I used thematic analysis to analyse my data.
The findings of my study provided information on how foundation phase special needs teachers use their experiences to include all learners in their physical education lessons. Special needs teachers involved in my study provided insight on how physical education might be improved for special needs learners. Three main themes were identified in my findings: adapting physical education for special needs learners; physical education
vii
contributions to special needs learners; and challenges faced by physical education teachers. Teachers’ experiences proved to be of great value to physical education and beneficial to special needs learners. The Department of Education, together with the inclusive education and physical education specialists, can continue improving physical education for special needs learners.