TA study into Teacher Perception and Practice of Inclusive Education for Disabled Learners in Nigeria and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Teachers are seen as key bodies to implement inclusive education. Positive perception and attitudes are therefore argued as playing a considerable role in implementing inclusive practices successfully within and outside the classroom. The aim of this study is to examine how teachers in Nigeria and in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), perceive the teaching of disabled learners and what attitude they display towards inclusive education. It also examined which variables are related to their attitudes and how these affect social and educational inclusion of disabled learners in mainstream schools. A broad survey was undertaken with sample comprising of 516 secondary and primary school teachers from both countries. The analysis revealed some thematic key factors that impact on teacher perception and practise of inclusion for disabled learners. It mainly reveals that the majority of teachers hold negative attitudes towards the inclusion of these types of learners. Five variable key factors obtained from the themes were teacher characteristics towards the disabled learners, inappropriate classroom management technique, the system of recruitment and career development, the parental involvement and other contextual factors like availability of resources and funding. Nevertheless, the recommendations provided at the end of this paper portrays a further in-depth research to address the themes mentioned above in other to domesticate a framework for these teachers for the inclusive learning of disabled pupils in these two countrie