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The Need and Desire for Inclusive Universities: A Perspective from Development Studies

THOMPSON, Stephen
July 2021

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In recent times there has been sustained momentum to address inequalities within university faculties and improve the diversity of students. Also, in response to historical and current social injustices, universities have sought to decolonize curricula. These progressive movements have had particular significance for departments focused on development studies and related subjects because the need to be inclusive is not only the right thing to do from a moral position, but also because to be exclusive is fundamentally challenging to the conceptualization and philosophy of the discipline. Development is a contested term but addressing inequality and working towards social justice are common themes found across most definitions. This commentary provides a critical insight into the importance of inclusive universities as gatekeepers to equitable knowledge production and the development of future professionals. To play their part in addressing the challenges posed by a globalized world, universities need to be proactive in ensuring that they become fully and meaningfully inclusive. While all university departments would benefit from becoming more inclusive, departments focused on development must be the pioneers leading the way, as inclusivity is relevant to the delivery of development studies, as well as emerging as an important discourse within the discipline that continues to evolve. This commentary will explore how and why in an increasingly interconnected global society, the need for universities to leave no one behind, and challenge hegemonic and unequal structures has never been greater.

Exploring the experiences of students with visual impairments at the University of Botswana

OATS, Reginald
DISELE, Chawapiwa
2019

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Purpose: This paper sought to document the responsiveness of the University of Botswana towards the academic needs of students with visual impairments. The study examined the academic experiences of students with visual impairments enrolled at the University and explored their information-seeking needs. The study was informed by the theory of social justice.

Method: This was a qualitative study. Data was collected from students with visual impairments and academic staff from different faculties at the University of Botswana, through document analysis, interviews and observation techniques.

Results: The findings revealed that students with visual impairments experience extra challenges compared to students without disabilities. This is mainly because they do not get full support to enable them to excel academically. Furthermore, lecturers use teaching methodologies that do not accommodate these students, and learning materials are not adapted to formats suitable for them. Access to information is another major concern that hinders the participation of students with visual impairments in tertiary institutions.

Conclusion: The study recommends that lecturers need to be trained on suitable methods to teach students with visual impairments and how best to deliver academic content to them.

 

Disability, CBR and Inclusive Development, Vol 30, No 1 (2019)

Nigerian Teachers’ Understanding of Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Comparative Study of Teachers from Urban and Rural areas of Lagos State

ODUNSI, Remi
PREECE, David
GARNER, Philip
2017

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Purpose: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong developmental disability characterised by difficulties in social interaction and social communication, and restricted and repetitive behaviour (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Despite its prevalence the world over, there is a paucity of research in some areas such as education, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper attempts to address the gap by exploring teachers’ understanding of ASD in Nigeria.

 

Method: Using an adapted version of the Knowledge About Childhood Autism Among Health Workers (KCAHW) questionnaire (Bakare et al, 2008), a survey was conducted among 177 mainstream primary teachers from Lagos State (112 from eleven urban schools and 65 from four rural schools).

 

Results: The total mean score on the Adapted KCAHW questionnaire among all the participating teachers was 10.81 ± 4.13 out of a possible total of 16. The mean score for urban teachers was 11.21 ± 4.31, while the mean score for rural teachers was 10.11 ± 3.75. In total, 46% of the urban teachers and 31% of the rural teachers demonstrated a generally accurate knowledge of ASD, with 15% (23 urban teachers and 4 rural teachers) of the sample answering all questions correctly.  Over 50% of urban teachers and almost 70% of rural teachers surveyed had only a low or moderate understanding of ASD.

 

Conclusions: This research supports previous studies that identified low professional knowledge and understanding of ASD, and a need for improved professional education and training. 

 

Limitations: The focus was on only one state within Nigeria, and only on mainstream primary schools. Further research is necessary across the educational age range as well as different geographical areas in the country.

Analysis of Bibliography on Specific Learning Disability in India

VENKATESAN, S
2017

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Aim: This study attempts a comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analysis of un-annotated bibliographic listing of books and citations compiled on specific learning disability published by researchers in India.

 

Method: An online and offline survey covering ISSN journals and ISBN marked books available in print or electronic media was compiled, coded, categorized, and classified by title, theme, year, journals, and names of author/s.

 

Results: The bibliographic search yielded 450 research articles drawn from 196 national and international journals of Indian origin and 29 book titles on the topic of learning disability and/or its equivalents covering themes related to their nature-characteristic (N: 184; 40.89%), therapy-intervention (N: 115; 25.56%), causes-correlates (N: 57; 12.67%), screening-assessment-identification (N: 52; 11.56 %), and epidemiology-prevalence (N: 42; 9.33%).  A decade wise timeline analysis shows an increasing trend in the quantum of publications on learning disability by almost four times from the base years of <=1990s to the contemporary period, along with corresponding shift in the increased use of the term ‘learning disability’ in preference for other older terms (p:<0.05).  

 

Conclusion: On the whole, there seems to be much unused information available about learning disabilities in the country, which now lies widely scattered.

 

Limitations & Recommendation: Although no claim is made that the bibliographic listing is all inclusive, it is recommended that the first step is to have an information gathering mechanism, creation of a dynamic repository, or archival system with retrieval systems in place for prospective researchers on a subject matter of great importance  within the country. 

Inclusive Education Booklets and Webinars

UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office
February 2017

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With the view to promoting Inclusive Education systems, the UNICEF RO for CEE/CIS in collaboration with the Education and Disability Sections at HQ, has developed a cohesive set of products related to Inclusive Education, products that will support the capacity development of UNICEF staff and provide them with a set of materials that can be used in the field. Below you can find a series of webinars and companion booklets, each dedicated to a specific thematic area, under the overall title of A Rights-Based Approach to Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities.

The series is intended to provide practical guidance to UNICEF staff and their partners on the issues of Inclusive Education with a focus on children with disabilities, by exploring specific concerns, policy and implementation issues specific to thematic areas. The webinars provide the audience with the necessary tools and references to guide further study, and determine the capacity development needs of each country. Each webinar and its companion booklet was developed by an expert on a specific thematic area.

Best Practice Guides for professionals supporting autistic students in Higher Education. Guide 3: For professionals supporting autistic students within or outside HE Institutions

FABRI, Marc
ANDREWS, Penny
PUKI, Heta
March 2016

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This guide is for specialists directly supporting autistic students. This may be as part of a disability support team within a Higher Education Institution (HEI), or for an independent organisation that provides services to HE. Insights from research and from good practice across Europe are shared to help improve student experiences and engagement with information and services, and to develop expertise.

Including alternative stories in the mainstream. How transcultural young people in Norway perform creative cultural resistance in and outside of school

DEWILDE, Joke
SKREFSRUD, Thor-André
2016

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The development of an inclusive pedagogy takes on new urgency in Norwegian schools as the student body has become increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse. Traditionally, the Norwegian school has been dominated by homogenising and assimilating discourses, whereas alternative voices have been situated at the margins. In response to this tendency, we present two transcultural students’ autoethnographic stories produced in alternative spaces to the Norwegian mainstream, that is, in a transition class for newly arrived students and on Facebook. Both spaces are perceived as contact zones in the sense that they are culturally and linguistically complex. This article illustrates how the students perform cultural and linguistic resistance towards dominant homogenising discourses as the transition class and Facebook seem to offer opportunities for constructing alternative stories. Moreover, we contend that these alternative stories offer important knowledge for conventional education contexts since they represent stories of competence in contrast to the assumed limitations of these students.

Enabling education network (EENET)

EENET

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This extensive website focusing on inclusive education is regularly updated, primarily with publications written by people working and living in the South. The website’s resources database covers a wide range of themes including: action research and image-based methodologies, early childhood, emergencies, deafness, gender, parents, policy, teacher education, among others. The website also contains EENET’s newsletters, plus event and job vacancy announcements.
The website is also available from EENET as a CD-ROM

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