Socio-Economic Barriers Flashcards
Socio -economic Barriers
- Culture of poverty in South Africa
- Unplanned Urbanization and Unemployment
- Moral Confusion and Uncertainty about values
- HIV Aids Pandemic
- Child Abuse
- Language and Cultural Differences
Intrinsic and Extrinsic barriers to Learning
Extrinsic: conditions outside the person for example socioeconomic barriers , systemic problems and pedagogical causes
Intrinsic: Conditions within the person , usually medical conditions and medical disabilities for example:
- Visual Impairments
- Auditory Impairments
- Giftedness
- Epilepsy
- Down’s Syndrome
- Intellectually Impaired
- Physical Impairments
- Autism
- Hyperactivity (ADD- Attention Deficit Disorder, ADHD- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
- Family Violence and Child Abuse
Special education in South Africa Inclusion and Exclusion debate in Education and Insight from White Paper 6.
Before 1994 Schools were struggling against apartheid
Different race groups had different education departments.
Past racial imbalances meant education was not equally funded across all racial groups so some schools had more resources than others
Since 1994 Education is centralized - it is controlled by a single national education department.
Special Education was not that equally developed for all races since apartheid.
In the 1990s they started special teaching to black people in a limited extent in black schools .
As a result, barriers to learning went unrecognized and were not addressed and learners experienced repeated failure and eventually dropped out of school.
SASA was enacted in 1996 and set uniform norms and standards for the education for learners at schools.
The NCESS were appointed by the minister of education to investigate and make recommendations about Special needs and support in South Africa. Thereafter White Paper 6 was published in 2001
White Paper 6
White Paper 6 Outlines a National Strategy to include and accommodate barriers to learning
Principals of White Paper 6
- All children and young people can learn and need support
- All diversity is valued
- Education must meet the needs of all learners
-Home and community are important sources of
learning
- Attitudes, behaviors and teaching methods need to change to meet the diverse needs
- Maximized participation in the education process is necessary
- Learners individual strengths need to be encouraged
- Special schools need to be improved and converted
- Reach children with disabilities who aren’t in the schools systems
- Convert 500 Primary Schools to full service Schools, catering for the full range of learning needs
- Management and teaching staff in ordinary schools need to be introduced to inclusive education
Problems around Inclusion
Class size
Insufficiently trained teachers
Funds
Low moral among teachers
In availability of resources
Infrastructure
Challenges in implementing inclusive education
Schools find it very challenging to practice inclusive education
Large class sizes
Learning needs that are too diverse
Poor language proficiency in the language of learning and teaching (students not learning in their mother tongue)
Poor socioeconomic circumstances
Too many problematic home circumstances as a result of poverty like HIV Aids
Poor parental support
Insufficient education equipment and learning materials
Inadequate training of teachers
Restricted financial resources
Limited support from education departments
Continuous Curriculum changes
Too many administrative duties
Discipline problems
How to make a classroom inclusive
Make all students feel welcome and accept the whole child not just a aspect of the child
Continuously working on knowledge and skills with workshops and courses
Regular collaboration between colleagues , parents and others professionals who can help identify and help barriers to learning
Make sure the learners have a classroom that makes them feel comfortable, appropriate in size and has lighting, ventilation, seating and no noise
Connect with students
Facilitate interaction and participation
Make sure students have learning materials
Be flexible
Be prepared
Allow learners to sit closer to the blackboard
Enlarge fonts on typed materials
Give learners breaks during tasks
Make sure learners understand the instructions and criteria
Collaboration principals
Collaboration involves a sharing community and involves everyone linking to the school: principals, teacher , parents, learners, district officials etc
Working as a team
Should be voluntary
Equal partners
Shared goal
Shared responsibility for decisions taken
Sharing of resources
Open communication
Collective decision making and problem solving
Role players need to work together and support each other
Forms of school-community collaboration
Human Resources from both sectors drawn together
Business partnerships
Partnering Institutions of Higher Learning
Integrated services (health, mental health and safety)
Organizations for people with Impairments
Barriers that effect school-community collaboration
Differences in organizational structure or philosophy
Working styles
Perception about the role of schools
Unequal relationships between the involved people
