1. How effective are teacher preparations for Inclusive Education in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone? Maria Kett and Marcella Deluca Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre, UCL UKFIET Oxford 17 September 2015

2. OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION  Introduction  Role of teachers in IE  KAP  Methodology  Findings from Kenya, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone  Conclusions 2

3. SUMMARY  Tensions between international initiatives and local realities – across all three countries  Similarities in teachers responses in all three countries  Expectations on teachers to deliver global initiatives  Teachers willingness to support inclusion, but awareness of additional training needs  Need for harmonisation and standardisation – including teacher training

4. GLOBAL IE CHALLENGES  Lack of conclusive evidence about what works in terms of educational approaches for children with disabilities in lower income countries  Lack of comparable data between countries  SDGs – ‘leave no one behind’ agenda  CRPD emphasis on IE, but country legislation(s)/provision on ‘special education’  Funding gaps

5. ROLE OF TEACHERS “In most developing countries, regular schools have large classes with few teachers. Consequently, many teachers hesitate to work with students with disabilities, finding it an additional workload… A few studies have reported on teachers’ attitude towards inclusive education in developing countries and indicated their inadequate knowledge and skills in meeting the needs of students with disabilities… The effects of teacher training on, for instance, classroom climate or academic and social outcomes, are often forgotten…” (Srivastava et al 2015: 189) 5

6. INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN KENYA, SIERRA LEONE AND ZIMBABWE  Each of these countries face challenges in their education systems, ranging from lack of resources, funding, and quality  None of these countries have specific policy or legislation in place relating to IE – but all have signed and ratified the UNCRPD and each country in principle, supports inclusion of (some) children with disabilities into the mainstream education system, following their ratifications of the CRPD.  All three countries have mainstream and segregated education provision  Almost all IE in these countries is implemented through INGOs, including LCD  Each of the LCD programmes in these three countries has research component attached to it 6

7. THE RESEARCH COMPONENT  Qualitative and quantitative components to measure impact of the LCD IE approach on children with disabilities (teacher survey, parent/caregivers; key informant interviews and focus groups).  Use of a validated questionnaire to assess pre and post-intervention knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of teachers and head teachers with regards to education of children with disabilities in identified and preselected schools in the project areas:  Sample sizes (pre-intervention):  Kenya – 130 Head teachers/teachers  Sierra Leone – 729 Head teachers/teachers  Zimbabwe – 250 Head teachers/teachers

8. EXPERIENCE TEACHING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES In all three countries, teachers reported on both their current and previous experience of teaching students with a range of disabilities: In Kenya 25% of teachers had no training on disability and in Zimbabwe 20% and Sierra Leone 40% of teachers had no previous experience of teaching children with disabilities All teachers had limited or no pre or in-service training on either inclusive or special education  Most teachers found it overall very difficult to teach children with disabilities.  Teachers found it particularly difficult to teach children with sensory impairments; learning difficulties and multiple disabilities  They found it ‘easier’ to teach children with physical disabilities; and in Zimbabwe the ‘gifted and talented’ children

9. BARRIERS A similar range of barriers were identified across all three countries:  Lack of assistive devices  Lack of transportation, linked to fact schools were a long distance from home.  If children are able to get to school, physical accessibility within the school itself becomes an issue, including access to the toilet.  In Kenya, a significant number of teachers thought that parents believe that children with disabilities should not go to school and that parents think that the children cannot learn  In all three countries, teachers thought that parents were worried that their children with disabilities will be abused if they went to school (bullied, teased, ill-treated, etc.).  Direct/indirect costs were highlighted by teachers as a barrier in all three countries  The majority of teachers recognised their lack of expertise and saw it as a barrier to children with disabilities going to school.

10. UNDERSTANDING INCLUSIVE EDUCATION  In Kenya and Zimbabwe, the majority of head teachers/teachers had heard of IE; only around half of those interviewed in Sierra Leone had  Of those that had heard of IE, most showed some understanding of requirements such as acceptance; adaptation to the curriculum and environment; the need for adequately trained teachers; additional resources and personnel  But in all three countries there was a significant lack of clarity about what constitutes IE

11. ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS Obviously varied according to levels of experience and exposure…  Less teachers in Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone felt frustrated about their inability to understand children with disabilities in mainstream classes than in Kenya, but in Kenya, a smaller number of teachers reported becoming upset when children with disabilities are unable to keep up with the day-to-day curriculum in their classroom.  Around a quarter to a third of teachers surveyed in all three countries agreed with the statement that children with disabilities should be taught in special schools; and a similar number in all three countries thought they should be taught in special schools to ensure they did not experience rejection in mainstream schools.  Overall, very few teachers in all three countries agreed with the statement that ‘children with disabilities should be segregated as it is too expensive to adapt the school environment.’  In all three countries, the majority of teachers expressed willingness to adapt the curriculum (though they were not asked if they actually do adapt it)

12. CONCERNS  In all three countries, teachers expressed concerns linked to the inclusion of children with disabilities in schools and classes.  In particular, both groups highlighted the potential impact of inclusion on resources (including available funds, additional staff. changes to infrastructure, and the additional costs of special teachers, teaching materials and teaching aids).  In Kenya, teachers were concerned about having enough time to plan educational programmes; maintaining discipline in class; having the required knowledge and skills to teach children with disabilities; and giving equal attention to all students,  In Zimbabwe, teachers were concerned about the effects that having a child with disabilities in the classroom will have on the academic achievement of non-disabled children in the class  In Sierra Leone, there was more of a mixed picture about coping with students with disabilities who do not have adequate self-care skills

13. DAILY PRACTICES  In Kenya, teachers with some experience of teaching children with disabilities perceived themselves as being more self-efficacious than teachers in their daily practices  Teachers in all three countries agreed that they were able to adapt lesson plans to include all students in the class  Overall teachers in Sierra Leone and Kenya were quite confident about teaching children with disabilities effectively, whatever the specific nature of the impairment; but in Zimbabwe teachers were more mixed in their responses, with around half agreeing and half disagreeing.  Teachers in all three countries were quite confident about their ability to build relationships with parents of children with disabilities.

14. FINDINGS  Overall, the attitudes and beliefs of teachers were positive  The more exposure and experience a teacher has, more likely they are to be positive about including children with disabilities in their classes  Lack of specific training in special education needs/IE by teachers and head teachers  There is a need for further training – especially around inclusion of children with multiple disabilities and communication difficulties 14

15. FINDINGS…  Head teachers and teachers also concerned about critical issues such as administration and resources (funds, infrastructure, special teachers, teaching materials and aids) – all crucial for successful IE  According to both head teachers and teachers, daily practices are generally challenging due to poor infrastructure, high numbers of students and poor sanitation arrangements. 15

16. CONCLUSION  Willingness among head teachers to include children with disabilities in classes.  But this requires adequate training and resources as the lack of expertise of teachers represents a barrier to children with disabilities going to school  IE needs to be taught in a standardised way to pre- service teachers. To resolve the in-service gap, standardised and accredited training should be provided and regularly updated  Need to link services to improve the assessment and support of children with disabilities (e.g. there re often weak or non- existent links between health and development programmes such as early childhood or under-five health programmes)  There is a need to connect IE to policy, with educators, parents and communities influencing policymakers to improve quality education for all children 16

17. THANK YOU m.kett@ucl.ac.uk marcella.deluca@ucl.ac.uk www.lcdisability.org/idc