Perceptions of teachers in special schools towards inclusive education

M.Ed.The context of South African education is undergoing change with inclusion as a nationally constitutional imperative. Both mainstream and special school teachers are the key role-players in determining the quality of implementation of this new policy, and expected to embrace and to work in a new frame of reference. The purpose of this research was to investigate the perceptions of special school teachers involved in inclusive education in South Africa. In this study, teachers play an important role, as those responsible for working towards meeting the needs of all learners in the classroom. It is important to determine their perceptions and attitudes of inclusive education. Much of the literature on inclusive education policies focuses on the attitudes of principals and teachers in mainstream schools. This study described the experiences of special school teachers providing specialised remedial education for learners within the Greater Johannesburg area. The research design was qualitative in nature and data collection methods included individuals and group interviews. Purposeful sampling was used to select the participants. The findings from the data revealed that teachers in special schools are concerned about the lack of resources, inadequate training of special schools teachers, and the need for support and collaboration. The participants realize that they need to work together with teachers in the mainstream school, teachers in training, family, the community and specialists. Teachers, training institutions and policy implementers towards the facilitation of development and implementation of inclusion in South Africa may use the findings of this research to improve the existing inclusion practices in the schools. The results of this study indicate that the teachers in special schools have enough information about the theoretical aspects of inclusion but lack resources and support