Suchergebnisse

Since the year 2000, a deepening political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe has forced parents to emigrate en masse to regional and international destinations such as South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand respectively. Without guaranteed employment and with little knowledge of the education systems and the living conditions in the destination countries, most parents chose to initially emigrate on their own, settle down and later on send for their children. However, most of these children never joined their parents, owing to the various challenges that the majority of parents encountered in the diaspora: unemployment, lack of documentation, and poor living conditions. Against this background, this paper assesses experiences and challenges faced by the left-behind children (LBC) and explores these children's perceptions of their interactions with teachers through inclusive education practices. A phenomenological research approach was adopted; in-depth interviews were used to collect data. The high schools were purposively sampled, one from a low-income area and the other from a high-income area in order to get a more pronounced picture of the experiences of LBC in the city. The results of the study indicate that LBC faced numerous challenges: excessive household chores, little help from guardians with homework, inadequate representation at school meetings, and non-payment of school expenses. Most children viewed their interaction with teachers as generally negative and reported that most of their needs were not met. The study recommends the crafting of inclusive education legislation for the country so that new vulnerabilities are holistically dealt with.Keywords: inclusive education; left-behind children (LBC); rights-based education; schooling experiences; vulnerability; Zimbabwe

The quest for access to higher education has increased rapidly in the past 25 years of democracy in South Africa. However, this increase has not been matched by student academic success. This lack of success may even be worse with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has given rise to challenges that have affected student learning, especially for students who come from historically disadvantaged backgrounds. In response to these, many institutions of higher learning have resorted to online teaching and learning. Despite this aforementioned lack of success, there are some who have succeeded. This group of students is the focus of our study. Therefore, the question discussed here is: How do students of historically disadvantaged backgrounds have access to higher education and succeed in their studies, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic? We employed a qualitative methodological approach, where the case study research design was adopted. A purposive sampling strategy was used to select a total of 18 participants from the School of Education at the University of Limpopo in South Africa. The sample was divided into four categories. The first category was made up of 10 students. The second category comprised 2 administrative staff, the third category consisted of 4 academic staff and 2 support staff (residence and academic writing) formed the last category. Data was collected through interviews and document analysis. The findings showed that students from disadvantaged backgrounds encountered challenges with their academic and their social lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we established that they developed coping skills (working in groups, moving around from one spot to the other in search of a strong connectivity) to navigate through their challenges. These findings imply that students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds can succeed if they leverage their studies on self-agency and social capital despite disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study examined teachers' attitudes towards the inclusion of learners who experience barriers to learning in their classrooms. The study implemented the quantitative descriptive design. Sixty-three Foundation Phase (grades 1–3) teachers were recruited through the convenient sampling strategy from the Capricorn District in Limpopo Province in South Africa. Data were collected through a closed-ended questionnaire adapted from the Teaching for All (Department of Basic Education, 2019) student support materials for inclusive education commissioned by the British Council. Analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 for descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The findings indicated that overall, teachers were well disposed to include learners who experience barriers to learning in their classrooms. However, the teachers expressed concerns regarding some teachers' abilities that are required in inclusive settings for inclusion of these learners to happen. The study has some important implications for teachers, policymakers and researchers. The study may help to solidify teachers' positive attitudes as the creators of knowledge rather than always assuming the role of transmitters of information from the government. Policymakers may be informed about how to involve teachers in their development of policies on inclusive education. Lastly, for researchers these findings may help further research on how to understand problems related to the implementation of inclusive education.

This book deliberates on developments related to Knowledge Pathing: Multi-, Inter- and Trans-Disciplining in Social Sciences. The book explores the value of this vexed concept in advancing the course for multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary perspectives, methodologies, theories and epistemologies of knowledge pathing. The discourse on knowledge pathing remains critical in advancing debates and dialogues in the humanities and social sciences spaces of research and studies. This book makes a significant contribution to the scholarly understanding of indigenous knowledge research by focusing on problematising local indigenous community research from Afro-sensed perspectives. The field of indigenous knowledge research and higher education in Africa is complex. Yet, across the continent, higher education has been the sector to least embrace Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) or regard indigenous science as a legitimate source of inspiration for the development of youth and local communities. Higher education institutions and local indigenous communities should thus generate knowledge and power through research. On the other hand, higher education researchers should use their research processes and skills for cross-beneficiation when engaging local indigenous communities. This book embodies the current discourse on decolonisation and the use of indigenous knowledge in research and is intended for research specialists in the field of indigenous knowledge systems.