Detailed Table of Contents
Preface...... xvi
Acknowledgment...... xxii
Chapter 1 Ubuntu and African Disability Education: An Ethical Perspective From the Global South...... 1 Ephraim Taurai Gwaravanda, Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe
In this chapter, the researcher seeks to challenge the view that Western cultures are the ‘givers’ and the ‘teachers’ of disability education while African cultures are the ‘takers’ and the ‘taught’. Firstly, the researcher argues that the displacement of African knowledge systems by colonialist hegemony has to be refuted to prepare the foundation of African disability education. Secondly, the study draws lessons from an African culture, particularly the Shona culture, by using selected proverbs to show how disabled persons are respected in communities, how they are given freedom for innovation, and how they are encouraged to participate in daily activities. Thirdly, the research provides responses to standard objections that are raised against the use of proverbs in drawing out philosophical arguments. Lastly, the researcher argues that disability ethical teachings that are enshrined in Shona cultural thought have the potential for global application.
Chapter 2 Institutional Dynamics and Support for Students With Disabilities in Botswana’s Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges...... 15 Macdelyn Khutsafalo Mosalagae, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
This chapter focuses on the dynamics surrounding inclusionary practices in Botswana’s TVET institutions and how these impact on the experiences of students with disabilities. The chapter draws from interviews conducted for a doctoral study informed by the capability approach. The researcher argues that the nature of institutional support can produce enabling and constraining features within the structure and relations at hand. Support for students in TVET is of importance despite aspects such as inadequate resources and untrained personnel on disability matters. The chapter also focuses on the contradictions that have marked the education of students with disabilities. In particular, academics have different perceptions of inclusion and what constitutes good practices of the appropriate inclusion for students with disabilities. A group of 17 students with mild intellectual disabilities formed part of the participants, and the study used in-depth interviews for data collection.
Chapter 3 Double Jeopardy: The Intersection of Disability and Gender in Zimbabwe...... 35 Naume Zorodzai Choguya, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
Motivated by the thinness of gender-disaggregated literature on women and disability, the author discusses the position and condition of such women in Zimbabwe. Literature shows that women with disabilities experience double discrimination as women and as disabled persons. The author argues that women are marginalised from access to resources they need for their upkeep, personal security, and further human advancement. Furthermore, disability feeds on the already existing inequalities in society to produce heightened exclusion for them. Women face physical, attitudinal, and environmental barriers; live in poverty; and lack opportunities for gaining an education, finding employment, forming meaningful social ties, and participating meaningfully in their families and communities. This chapter makes calls for committed efforts towards a transition to an inclusive society, one that includes persons with disabilities in every facet of life.
Chapter 4 Nigeria’s Legislation Against Discrimination of Persons With Disabilities: An Assessment...... 55 Augustine Edobor Arimoro, Nottingham Trent University, UK
After several years of appeals for the protection of persons with disabilities from discrimination in Nigeria, the federal government of Nigeria in early 2019 passed into law the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act 2018. While this is considered a welcome development, it remains to be ascertained whether the government has the political will to implement the act. This chapter examines the provisions of the Anti-Disability Disability Discrimination Law in Nigeria. The aim here is to consider how the law can be employed to better the lives of persons with disabilities in areas including but not limited to access to justice, employment, healthcare, education, and transportation. The methodology adopted for the study is a doctrinal review of the law and literature on disability rights, the plight of persons with disabilities, and the effect of the recently passed Act of 2018. The chapter concludes with recommendations.
Chapter 5 A Global Comparative Study in Disability Inclusion Legislation and Policies in the TVET Education...... 68 Precious Muzite, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
This chapter critically engages relevant literature on the trajectories of disability inclusion in Technical Vocational Education and Training Centres (TVET) education and training systems. It challenges dominant epistemologies in critical disability studies that have been traditionally fore-grounded, imagined, and constructed within Westernized philosophical paradigms. For centuries, it has been difficult to re-imagine alternative forms of knowledge of impairment, disability, and debility from the subaltern standpoint. The author seeks to highlight the uneven ways through which knowledge systems on Disability Inclusion in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) oscillates between the so-called problematic dichotomies of the global North and Global South. This is achieved by critically weighing in the contribution and impact of legislation, policies, and newer perspectives on the Scholarship of Learning (SoL) from the global North that influences critical pedagogies on disability inclusion in TVET colleges in the Southern African context.
Chapter 6 Training Needs for Teachers Teaching Children With Autism in Special Schools...... 83 Nausheen Ameen, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
This chapter focuses on the training needs of teachers teaching children with autism in special schools in South Africa. It outlines the type of training, competencies, and perceptions of teachers teaching children with autism in special schools. A qualitative phenomenology multiple case study methodology was used. In-depth semi-structured interviews, observations, and field notes were conducted with eight teachers from four different schools in Gauteng Province. The study showed that the training received by teachers assisted them with a general overview of autism and how to use various strategies to teach children with autism. Evidence showed that there was a lack of additional training and monitoring of the training provided in some instances. It highlighted teachers’ preferences on the sources of training with private providers being preferred over the training received by The Gauteng Department of Education due to reasons that include perceptions of expertise and training procedures.
Chapter 7 The Dynamics of Inclusivity in Teaching and Assessing Mathematics for Lower Grade Learners.... 101 Caroline Long, University of Johannesburg, South Africa Phefumula Nyoni, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
The chapter explores the diverse interpretations related to the learning of mathematics for learners at lower grade levels. At the core of understanding the dynamics of teaching and assessment of mathematics tasks for lower grade learners lie the general perceptions on the subject and how these have shaped educator and learner approaches to the subject as well as associated nuances of cognitive development. The chapter also explores how educators deal with inclusivity in the context of the curriculum and cognitive capabilities of learners in teaching and assessment. Different interpretations to assessments are also explored. A different approach to assessment that locates learners on a continuum of current proficiency is advocated. A flexible teaching philosophy is proposed which rather than cut the class into a pass/fail dichotomy, acknowledges each learner’s right to progress in particular through the use of targeted teaching for challenged learners.
Chapter 8 Challenges and Management of Disabilities Among Exceptional Learners in Inclusive Primary Schools in Busia District, Uganda...... 116 Michail Peter Barasa, Busitema University, Uganda Dennis Zami Atibuni, University of Johannesburg, South Africa Edward Andama, Busitema University, Uganda
This chapter presents a qualitative investigation of the challenges of common disabilities and their management among learners with disabilities in inclusive primary schools in Busitema Subcounty, Busia District, Uganda. Data collection involved key informant interviews and focus group discussions with a purposive sample of 85 informants including head teachers, teachers, and learners. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that the main challenges facing the learners were school-based, psychosocial, socioeconomic, socio-cultural, and policy related. Strategies to overcome the challenges were suggested. The authors recommend strict adherence to SNE policy guidelines during the implementation of these strategies.
Chapter 9 Disability and Sport: The Lived Experiences...... 130 Tapiwa Mudyahoto, Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe Thembelihle Gondo, Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe
Disability and sport have received so much recognition basing on the number of declarations, charters, treaties, and policies crafted on the rights of people with disabilities throughout the world. These individuals with disabilities need to be empowered to overcome barriers and constraints that may affect their participation in sport in mainstream schools. This chapter briefly looks at the background of disability sport, concept of disability and sport, definition of sport and disability. The chapter will also look at among other issues, strategies for including learners with disabilities in sport. Other key issues to be highlighted include disability participation in sport, challenges faced by learners with disabilities in mainstream sport, benefits of sports for children with disabilities, barriers to participation in mainstream sport. The chapter concludes by looking at perceptions of teachers and learners on children with disabilities in sport.
Chapter 10 Students With Disabilities’ Learning in South African Higher Education: Disabling Normatives and Disablement...... 148 Sibonokuhle Ndlovu, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
This chapter discusses how the normative practices and structures ‘disables’ students with disabilities in their learning in the context of the South African higher education. Empirically, examples from the students’ lived experienced have been drawn from the previous study that has been conducted in one institution of higher education, which is a privileged space, by virtue of being formerly advantaged. Data combines available literature on normativity and disablement of students with disabilities and empirical data, which were collected through interviews with students with disabilities studying specific professional degrees. Decolonial theory informed deeper understanding of the cause of normative assumptions and consequently disablement of students with disabilities. Literature and lived experiences of students with disabilities reveal that despite efforts of disruption normativity and disablement have continued to be reproduced at different levels because systems of domination are so durable and inventive.
Chapter 11 Disability and Education in Cameroon: A Living Theory Perspective and Its Implications...... 163 R. Ndille, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
This chapter draws on the author’s own experiences as a student and educator to provide another perspective of inclusive education in Cameroon. It is a call to attention to the day to day challenges that students with disabilities face in acquiring education in inclusive settings in the country. It may suffice for policy to state that education for persons with disabilities is best provided in inclusive environments based on their perceived advantages. However, an on-the-spot appreciation of the experiences of those in the field may reveal alternative results. This may be due to the milieu, the ignorance or negligence of those put as caregivers, and the non/poor implementation of policy. The author argues that while a significant volume of research is available in the country, presenting these experiences through a living theory methodology brings the reader closer to the personal experiences of students with disabilities and persons working with them. It further highlights issues which are often taken for granted when mainstream methodologies are adopted.
Chapter 12 Technology Use Among Academics With Disabilities Within a Transforming University...... 180 Phefumula Nyoni, University of Johannesburg, South Africa Tafara Marazi, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
This chapter focuses on the experiences of academics with disability within a Zimbabwean university context. Transforming universities under the Education 5.0 policy in Zimbabwe despite its good intentions has revealed some of the unresolved challenges. This chapter reveals how transformation practices especially with increase in technology use have presented opportunities and challenges for disabled sections of academic society within university spaces. The chapter also highlights how academics with disabilities face and how they ultimately negotiate their way within diverse structures that act as enablers on the one hand whilst being equally a source of barriers on the other. In-depth interviews, observations, and literature are used. The chapter concludes by highlighting how the importance of being conscious to contextual factors and embracing day to day experiences could represent opportunities for broadening access to technology and subsequent inclusion of academics with disability whilst also aiding transformation of universities and the broader Zimbabwean society.
Chapter 13 Technology and Innovation in the Global South: Effective Literacy Programme for the Poor...... 197 Obadiah Moyo, National Council of the Disabled Persons in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Sibonokuhle Ndlovu, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
This chapter addresses the problem of literacy and technology for rural impoverished and deprived children in Zimbabwe. While technological innovation is understood as the Western concept, too far- fetched for poor countries in the Global South, this chapter argues that poor disadvantaged countries have their own innovation and technology that befits its context and needs. Decolonial theory is used to analyse a unique programme that has been able to improve literacy and technology levels of rural and impoverished children of Zimbabwe. The finding is that despite remoteness and poverty, a unique kind of innovation and technology is possible to enhance literacy in disadvantaged contexts in the Global South when the locally available resources are mobilised in a scientific way. The chapter hopes to help the understanding that advanced technological innovation is not only a Western concept, but also the South.
Chapter 14 Dynamics of Disability for South African University Students in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.. 210 Phefumula Nyoni, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
This chapter focuses on the relational nature of disability especially with respect to experiences of disabled students with access to assistive technologies particularly within the context of the fourth IR. The chapter presents a background on various interpretations relating to disability and implications to identities within an academic context. The chapter also highlights the various experiences by students in diverse university spaces. Using informal interviews and observations, the chapter explores the nature of the identities of disability, how individuals negotiate the experiences in the diverse spaces of interaction with other beings or technology. Focus is also on relations created as disabled students interact with non-disabled students and lecturers in diverse situations. Conceptually, the chapter draws from the social model on disability in which disability is viewed as a socially constructed phenomenon. In addition, Foucauldian analysis of disability is used to explore notions of how disabled students experience power as thy deal with day to day academic obligations.
Chapter 15 The Disabling Influence of Work-Life Imbalance and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) on Postgraduate Research Engagement and Progress...... 224 Dennis Zami Atibuni, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
The onslaught of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) requires employees to have a more complex combination of skills—the 21st century skills—than in the past. The corporate world expects employees to amass these skills from the education system, especially through acquisition of postgraduate qualifications. However, acquiring these skills presents challenges to the students as institutions rarely offer these skills at that level. Low competence in these skills, coupled with work-life imbalance, hampers research engagement and hence progress and completion among postgraduate students. In essence, a lack of the 4IR skills is a disabling reality for postgraduate research students. This chapter presents a desk-based conceptual review of the disabling effects of work-life imbalance and inadequate 4IR skills on postgraduate students’ research engagement and general academic progress. Implications for policy and practice include routine provision of hands-on experiences on the 21st century research skills and work-life balance in order to step up their research progress.
Chapter 16 Re-Thinking Inclusive Higher Education for Students With Disabilities: A Proactive Approach Towards Epistemic Access in Ethiopia...... 235 Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Several studies address the notion of inclusive higher education from the perspective of access questioning who participates, where, and how in the sense of equity, raising issues of enrolment of disadvantaged groups. This chapter approaches the concept of inclusion in the Ethiopian higher education system from an epistemic access perspective. The argument is that discussions on access to higher education for disadvantaged groups should go beyond mere physical access and should be conceptualized in a manner that reflects educational outcomes and post-enrollment experiences. This chapter aims at exploring the notion of inclusive higher education and epistemic access to students with disabilities in Ethiopian public universities. The study is based on in-depth interviews of 25 students with disabilities from five Ethiopian public universities. The chapter argues that the higher education system in Ethiopia should re-approach the notion of access and take a proactive measure to ensure epistemic access to students with disabilities.
Chapter 17 Support for the Underprivileged in the South: Lessons From the West and South...... 251 Collin Nyabadza, Collin Nyabadza Children’s Voice, Canada Sibonokuhle Ndlovu, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
This chapter presents the support provided by the countries in the West to the underprivileged schools in Zimbabwe, through a non-profit organisation. Theoretical concepts drawn from decolonial theory, Ubuntu philosophy, and social model of disability were used to analyse the kind of support provided by the West to the South, and the activities of the organisation in disadvantaged schools and communities in rural Zimbabwe. Data were collected by scanning the organisation’s website, newsletters, published material, and resources on the organisation, including journal articles and books on literature on the specific theoretical concepts. The argument for this chapter is that though it has been conceived that the West through coloniality oppresses the South, there are humanitarian lessons, both the South and West can learn from each other, which can improve both worlds educationally, socially, and culturally.
Conclusion...... 263
Compilation of References...... 265
About the Contributors...... 299
Index...... 304