Inclusion within further and higher education : the experience of young people with physical and sensorial disabilities

Abstract

PH.D.EDUCATION ; This research examined the experience of inclusive education of young persons with physical and sensorial disability at further and higher education in Malta. Environmental, social and educational enabling/disabling factors of inclusive education were explored. Pragmatism was utilised as the underlying paradigm while critical realism, poststructuralism and critical disability theory were used as the interpretive frameworks of this epistemology. The social model of disability was applied to frame a position supporting disabled persons1. Stemming from Dewey's theory of experience (Dewey, 1938), an ontology of inclusive education as experienced by different stakeholders was studied. A mixed-methods research design was employed to understand the experience of inclusive education at secondary level in preparation for the transition to further education and during further/higher education. The feedback of fourteen secondary school disabled students was obtained through a questionnaire. Participatory observation and documentary analysis were carried out involving eight further education institutions and the University of Malta. Narratives were developed with four adolescents while following a course at further/higher education. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve disabled adults, eleven academics at the University of Malta, nine administrators and eight representatives of entities related to inclusive education and disability. Eleven further education lecturers participated in four focus groups. The study presents an innovative data analysis and a pro-inclusion model. There is a disparity in the provision of inclusive education at policy and implementation levels. Inclusive education is a socially constructed phenomenon and its quality is affected by the extent a rights-based approach is enforced across the nested nuclei within society. Activism by disabled people creates an impetus for society to value diversity, democracy and social justice. This research examined the experience of inclusive education of young persons with physical and sensorial disability at further and higher education in Malta. Environmental, social and educational enabling/disabling factors of inclusive education were explored. Pragmatism was utilised as the underlying paradigm while critical realism, poststructuralism and critical disability theory were used as the interpretive frameworks of this epistemology. The social model of disability was applied to frame a position supporting disabled persons1. Stemming from Dewey's theory of experience (Dewey, 1938), an ontology of inclusive education as experienced by different stakeholders was studied. A mixed-methods research design was employed to understand the experience of inclusive education at secondary level in preparation for the transition to further education and during further/higher education. The feedback of fourteen secondary school disabled students was obtained through a questionnaire. Participatory observation and documentary analysis were carried out involving eight further education institutions and the University of Malta. Narratives were developed with four adolescents while following a course at further/higher education. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve disabled adults, eleven academics at the University of Malta, nine administrators and eight representatives of entities related to inclusive education and disability. Eleven further education lecturers participated in four focus groups. The study presents an innovative data analysis and a proinclusion model. There is a disparity in the provision of inclusive education at policy and implementation levels. Inclusive education is a socially constructed phenomenon and its quality is affected by the extent a rights-based approach is enforced across the nested nuclei within society. Activism by disabled people creates an impetus for society to value diversity, democracy and social justice. ; N/A