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Perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of an inclusive education outreach team in one rural education district of the Western Cape

Thesis (MEdPsych) --Stellenbosch University, 2016

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Main Author: Barratt, Sarah Elizabeth
Other Authors: Swart, Estelle
Format: Thesis
Language:en_ZA
Published: Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University 2016
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access_status_str Open Access
author Barratt, Sarah Elizabeth
author2 Swart, Estelle
author_browse Barratt, Sarah Elizabeth
Swart, Estelle
author_facet Swart, Estelle
Barratt, Sarah Elizabeth
author_sort Barratt, Sarah Elizabeth
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv Stellenbosch University
description Thesis (MEdPsych) --Stellenbosch University, 2016
format Thesis
id oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/98756
institution Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
language en_ZA
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:43:54.041Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
publishDate 2016
publishDateRange 2016
publishDateSort 2016
publisher Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
publisherStr Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
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source_str SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
spelling oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/98756 Perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of an inclusive education outreach team in one rural education district of the Western Cape Barratt, Sarah Elizabeth Swart, Estelle Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Educational Psychology UCTD Inclusive education -- South Africa Right to education -- South Africa Education support services Education, Rural -- South Africa School support teams -- South Africa Thesis (MEdPsych) --Stellenbosch University, 2016 ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Inclusive education around the world, considers both the rights of learners and how education systems can transform to respond to learner diversity in just and humane ways. In this regard, White Paper 6, introduced by the Department of Education in 2001 has been hailed as a post-Apartheid landmark policy which provides the vision and framework for transforming South Africa’s divided and unequal education system into an inclusive one. It represents a fundamental shift from a continuum of educational placement to an infusion of education support services throughout the education system. The Western Cape Education Department has interpreted this ‘infusion of support’ to include the establishment of Inclusive Education Outreach Teams. These teams are based at special schools’ resource centres in order to support designated full service/inclusive schools. This study looks specifically at how one rural Inclusive Education Outreach Team in the Western Cape perceives its role and responsibilities. A qualitative research design within an interpretive paradigm was used to explore these perspectives. This exploration was conducted from within an ecological community psychology approach. Doing so allowed a view of the research question as the dynamic interaction between research participants and their environment. Convenience and purposive sampling methods were used to select the four participants in the study. Data was collected by way of in-depth individual interviews and a single focus group interview and analysed using thematic data analysis. The data revealed the following key findings. On the one hand, there are significant enabling factors to support the effectiveness of Inclusive Education Outreach Teams as enabling agents of inclusion. These include: A significant degree of convergence between inclusive education theory and existing inclusive education policy; Enabling Inclusive Education Policy and guidelines; Research participants’ understanding of inclusion and the intentions of inclusive education are in line with policy, which they view as a reference to guide and support their practice; The Inclusive Education Outreach Team’s view of their role is fundamentally that of a support service with the primary responsibility of enabling the implementation of inclusive education. On the other hand, there are disabling systemic factors that significantly undermine the effectiveness of these teams. These include: No official policy pertaining to the functioning of these teams; No uniformity in the way in which these teams function across education districts within the Province; The team members’ respective job descriptions are unofficial draft documents, effectively rendering their status in the district and in schools ‘unofficial’; Uncertainty, confusion and even dissent about the roles and responsibilities of Inclusive Education Outreach Teams at many levels of the education system. Within the broader context of the failure of Inclusive Education Policy to impact on the education system in any significant way, 14 years after its introduction, the key challenge remains the translation of enabling policy rhetoric into meaningful practice at every level of the system. At the District level, this requires visionary leadership across, and firm management within, the Specialized Education Support Component (which includes the Inclusive Education Outreach Teams and the Special School Resource Centres), to enable systemic alignment and inter-sectoral collaboration within an integrated community framework. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : Geen Afrikaanse opsomming geskikbaar nie Masters 2016-03-09T14:57:55Z 2016-03-09T14:57:55Z 2016-03 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/98756 en_ZA Stellenbosch University xiii, 187 pages, maps : illustrations (some colour) application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
spellingShingle UCTD
Inclusive education -- South Africa
Right to education -- South Africa
Education support services
Education, Rural -- South Africa
School support teams -- South Africa
Barratt, Sarah Elizabeth
Perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of an inclusive education outreach team in one rural education district of the Western Cape
title Perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of an inclusive education outreach team in one rural education district of the Western Cape
title_full Perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of an inclusive education outreach team in one rural education district of the Western Cape
title_fullStr Perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of an inclusive education outreach team in one rural education district of the Western Cape
title_full_unstemmed Perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of an inclusive education outreach team in one rural education district of the Western Cape
title_short Perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of an inclusive education outreach team in one rural education district of the Western Cape
title_sort perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of an inclusive education outreach team in one rural education district of the western cape
topic UCTD
Inclusive education -- South Africa
Right to education -- South Africa
Education support services
Education, Rural -- South Africa
School support teams -- South Africa
url http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/98756
work_keys_str_mv AT barrattsarahelizabeth perspectivesontherolesandresponsibilitiesofaninclusiveeducationoutreachteaminoneruraleducationdistrictofthewesterncape