The influence of mathematics teachers’ beliefs on their inclusive practices for oral hearing impaired learners

Abstract

For the effective implementation of inclusion, countries are responsible to define a set of inclusive principles and practical ideas “to guide the transition towards policies addressing inclusion in education” (UNESCO, 2005, p. 12). The context of the study is the inclusion of oral (making use of spoken language) hearing impaired (HI) learners in the general (mainstream) mathematics classroom. Hearing impaired in this study refers to learners with moderate to profound hearing loss in both ears and who have hearing aids and/or cochlear implants. The purpose of this study is two-fold. Firstly, to investigate the way teachers teach mathematics in an inclusive, face-to-face classroom containing a few oral HI learners with the view to describing the influence of the mathematics teachers’ beliefs on their inclusive practices. Secondly, to investigate the inclusive practices of the inclusive schools’ mathematics teachers during emergency remote teaching (ERT). To accomplish this aim, an in-depth study was conducted to explore the nature of beliefs held by an inclusive school’s mathematics teachers about the nature of mathematics; the inclusion of HI learners; and the inclusive strategies used by the teachers – during face-to-face teaching and ERT.

For this case design, data was collected from two high school mathematics teachers before and during the pandemic. The theoretical framework was based on international and national guidelines for inclusive education and guided the data collection and analysis processes. Data were collected in the form of interviews, observations, and document analysis.

The main findings of this study are that both teachers have a combination of beliefs about the nature of mathematics, however, their views did not correspond in totality with their practice. Both teachers have positive beliefs about inclusive education, provided that the HI learners can cope on their own. During face-to-face teaching and ERT, neither of the two teachers taught the classes containing HI learners differently from the classes without HI learners, and used limited inclusive practices. Fewer inclusive practices were evident during ERT than during face-to-face teaching. Continuous training to enhance the teachers’ understanding of inclusion is necessary, especially the barriers to learning that HI learners face. Inclusive schools need to implement a clear policy on inclusive, ensuring that the teachers know the policy. Teachers’ inclusive practices should also be strictly monitored.