Abstract
This article begins with the assumption that the argument for the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream schools, championed by Sustainable Development Goal 4 and Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, has largely been accepted nationally and internationally by policy makers, and is increasingly being accepted by teachers. In interrogating the complex craft of developing inclusive and equal learning environments for children with disabilities, this article draws upon Kershner’s ‘core aspects of teachers’ knowledge and knowing’, and in particular, ‘the school as a site for the development of teaching expertise and the creation of knowledge’. Data is presented from in-depth interviews following videoed lesson observations with experienced teachers in 15 rural, urban and coastal primary schools in four districts in Tanzania. Findings indicate that the teachers’ practice is moving unevenly towards disability equality, and involves processes of inclusions and exclusions. This involves teacher autonomy, agency and reflective practice in the context of material, attitudinal, structural, pedagogic and curricular barriers. The teachers’ expertise has potential to inform national and international policy developments, and so reduce the evident rhetoric-reality gap. In conclusion, it is argued that inclusive education needs to grapple with disability as a social construct, and lessons are drawn for the further fulfilment of the rights of children with disabilities to equal participation in education.
Highlights
This article critically explores the current international policy context in relation to disability equality in education and its implementation by ordinary primary school teachers in mainstream schools in Tanzania
Tanzania has 29 special schools and 239 units attached to mainstream schools serving its population of 54 million, and it is estimated that approximately 3% of the school age population has a disability
We have argued that the experienced teachers’ practices in Tanzania are moving unevenly, but discernibly towards disability equality
Summary
The research question framing the article is: how can rural primary school teachers’ experience inform the development of more disability equal educational policy and practices? The scarcity of research and training on inclusive pedagogy in the global South means that teachers who are at the frontline of realising disability rights in education receive little guidance on best practice. Seeking to address this gap in the literature, we present interview data from 15 Tanzanian primary schools that reflect teachers’ constructions of disability in their day-to-day teaching of early reading and mathematics. Our analysis has been further informed by Kershner’s (2014, p. 854) core aspects of teachers’ knowledge and knowing about disability, as we recognise that “schools can be sites for the development of teaching expertise and the creation of knowledge” alongside the development of ‘specialist’ expertise on disability equality and inclusive pedagogy emerging from teachers’ practice
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