Improving the Teaching Effectiveness of South African Educators as Inclusive Primary School Education Practitioners

In 1996, government policies in South Africa required all educational institutions to align with human rights and equality. Public schools now operate as inclusive institutions. Thus, there exists a problem that after 23 years of policy implementation, South African educators continue to acknowledge their need for knowledge, skills, and training to support effective inclusive education. There is an educational imperative to identify the South African educators’ gap in knowledge and skills to improve their effectiveness as active, inclusive practitioners. Mezirow’s transformational learning theory aligns with the South African educators’ need to build knowledge and inclusion skills. This research includes interviews with eight purposefully selected teachers with no formal training in inclusion and special education, and their lesson observations and document analyses to develop a qualitative case study at a South African primary school. The data collected described these educators’ strategies and identified the support structures required to improve their professional capacity. Descriptive and exploratory eclectic coding methods isolated a repetitive theme on the need for teacher training in inclusive instruction. Thus, this study led to the development of a 3-day training program, which expands into a PLC activity. This research intends to remove the gap between policy expectations and the reality of inclusive teaching in a South African primary school. By initiating a training program that can lead to an in-school PLC, teachers will learn to incorporate strategies to support inclusive practices in their instruction and drive the process for positive social change. Their students may apply themselves more successfully in their learning and exit the school system with an educational qualification that supports a better quality of life.