Teacher Support for Curriculum Adaptation and Inclusive Assessment in Rural South African Secondary Schools

Inclusive education depends on teachers’ capacity to adapt curriculum and assessment to accommodate diverse learner needs. However, teachers in rural South African schools continue to experience significant challenges arising from limited institutional support, inadequate professional development, and resource constraints. Despite policy commitments to inclusive education through White Paper 6, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), and the Screening, Identification, Assessment, and Support (SIAS) policy, limited empirical attention has been given to the specific support teachers require to implement inclusive curriculum and assessment practices in rural secondary schools. This study explored the support that teachers require regarding curriculum and assessment to facilitate the implementation of inclusive education in rural secondary schools in the Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Guided by Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory, the study adopted an interpretivist paradigm and a qualitative case study design. Purposive sampling was used to select six secondary school teachers from three rural schools with experience in implementing inclusive education. Data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews lasting between 45 and 60 min, supplemented by field notes. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed inductively using thematic analysis. Trustworthiness was ensured through credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability strategies. Four interrelated themes emerged from the analysis: inadequate inclusive support systems, limited stakeholder collaboration, limited curriculum support, and structural constraints and limited flexibility in assessment practices. Participants described insufficient resources, limited collaboration with parents and specialist support personnel, inadequate context-specific professional development, and inflexible assessment practices as constraining their capacity to implement inclusive education effectively. Participants identified continuous professional learning, collaborative partnerships, differentiated curriculum support, and flexible assessment strategies as important for strengthening their inclusive practices. However, whether addressing these support needs would improve teacher capacity or learner outcomes requires further investigation. Participants’ accounts suggest that effective implementation of inclusive education in rural secondary schools may require coordinated institutional, professional, and collaborative support. Strengthening teacher professional development, enhancing stakeholder collaboration, improving curriculum resources, and promoting inclusive assessment practices may be necessary for translating inclusive education policy into meaningful classroom practice. The findings may inform teacher professional development, school leadership, and policy initiatives aimed at enhancing inclusive education implementation within resource-constrained educational contexts.