Factors Impacting the Application of an Inclusive Education Policy on Screening, Identification, Assessment, and Support of the Learners at Schools in South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to establish factors impacting the application of an inclusive education policy on screening, identification, assessment, and support of learners at schools in South Africa. The paradigm of the research is interpretivist because the policy is aligned to Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory which attests that, for an education system to be effectively inclusive, there should be a shift from a paradigm that views barriers within a learner in isolation to a paradigm that views the barriers in a learner. There is interconnectedness of the barriers with the rest of the systems within and outside the learner. The participants were seven school principals and five members of the district-based support team, who were purposefully sampled. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted to elicit information on factors impacting the application of the policy. Data were analysed using the themes that emerged from the responses of the participants. Results reveal that the educators’ character traits, internal training and development, perceived policy application, and internal and external support for learners experiencing learning barriers impact policy application. The study recommends that aspiring educators must be adequately trained about policy at training institutions. Educators must be capacitated on policy application and every school must appoint a psychometric assessor who will provide information to educators on how best to support learners with learning barriers. The psychometric assessor must coordinate with the district-based support team for external support needs in policy implementation.