Teachers' experiences of teaching learners with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the mainstream classroom.
Abstract
In 2001, South African education policy adopted the approach of inclusive education. Inclusive
education as defined by the White Paper 6 is a system that acknowledges that all children can
learn and that support and enabling education structures are needed in order to meet the needs of
all learners (Department of Education, 2001). According to the White Paper 6 (Department of
Education, 2001),
barriers to learning are inclusive of both learning difficulties and contextual
difficulties that arise out of the historical constraints on education in South Africa.
The research
is interested in how an inclusive education system currently provides for learners with barriers to
learning, in the context of South Africa. Specifically, this study will look at the accommodation
of learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the mainstream classrooms of independent
schools in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
The research made use of the ecosystemic perspective to provide a framework in which to
answer the following research question, “What are the experiences of teachers who are
accommodating learners with ASD in the mainstream classroom of independent schools?”. The
study uses a qualitative research design as it aims to obtain an individual, in-depth, thick
description of the experiences and attitudes of the participants. It focuses on five participants
from various independent mainstream schools in the greater eThekwini area, whose
perceptions
and experiences are explored through individual interviews, classroom observations and field
notes. Through thematic analysis the researcher was able to explore the experiences of the
participants of this study. The findings of this study are then discussed and presented in light of
recent literature on the topic of inclusive education and the accommodation of learners with ASD
in the mainstream classroom. The findings of this study show that despite their exclusion from
inclusive education policy in South Africa Independent schools had aligned themselves with the
policy and were creating supportive environments for learning for learners with ASD. The
findings highlight the importance placed on the role of the facilitator in the accommodation of
learners with ASD, showing that the facilitator played an essential role, providing assistance with
individual teaching methods and providing the necessary structure and guidance to the learner
with ASD. Furthermore the findings reveal the challenges faced, including challenging
behaviours, feelings of despair and poor academic performance.