EDUCATIONAL INCLUSION FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM IN PALESTINE. What opportunities can be found to develop inclusive educational practice and provision for children with autism in Palestine; with special reference to the developing practice in two educational settings? by ELAINE ASHBEE A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Education University of Birmingham November 2015 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Amendments to names used in thesis The Amira Basma Centre is now known as Jerusalem Princess Basma Centre Friends Girls School is now known as Ramallah Friends Lower School ABSTRACT This study investigates inclusive educational understandings, provision and practice for children with autism in Palestine, using a qualitative, case study approach and a dimension of action research together with participants from two educational settings. In addition, data about the wider context was obtained through interviews, visits, observations and focus group discussions. Despite the extraordinarily difficult context, education was found to be highly valued and Palestinian educators, parents and decision–makers had achieved impressive progress. The research found that autism is an emerging field of interest with a widespread desire for better understanding. However, autism was not generally well understood or reliably identified and there was a lack of opportunity for sharing knowledge and practice. Autism was often perceived in terms of deficits, and the breadth, diversity and abilities within the autistic population were not well understood. Although there was general support for the official policy of inclusive education, autistic children were sometimes stigmatised, isolated and excluded. Notwithstanding many challenges, there were examples of dedicated but insecurely funded non-government provision, indicating that Palestinians have much to contribute to the international discourse on the inclusive education of autistic children. The action research dimension of the study identified features of successfully developing good educational practice for pupils with autism within two settings and considered the viability of replicating these more widely within Palestine. Concluding recommendations call for development of knowledge and practice in Palestine, drawing on, but not dictated by, the international pool of knowledge on inclusive autism practice. The study highlights a need for better identification of autism; for building capacity for contextually- appropriate inclusive educational provision; and for reconceptualising inclusion as a process of enabling participation in education. It proposes that there is a need for collaboration between professionals, parents and people with autism to share knowledge and practice, and suggests that this could be achieved through a Communities of Practice approach, building on current local collaborations between schools, organisations and communities. DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to children with autism in Palestine, their families and allies. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research would never have taken place without the support of the Qattan Centre for Educational Research and Development (QCERD) in Ramallah and I thank Wasim Kurdi, Nader Wahbeh, Ziad Khalaf and all their wonderful colleagues, administrators, technicians and academics at QCERD. I give special thanks to Rasha Mesleh, appointed by QCERD as my assistant and translator, for her invaluable commitment and diligence. I also thank Dima Saqfalhait for her skilful organisation of the final study day after completion of the main research. I give warm and grateful thanks to the staff and parents of the Friends School in Ramallah and the Amira Basma Centre in East Jerusalem, the two centres that participated in the case study strand of the research, in particular Salma Khalidi, Rana Mustaklem, Basma Abu Aisha and Iyman Ghoseh who helped to coordinate our work together. I am enormously grateful to the centres that I visited including Annahda Women’s Centre, the Friends of Autistic Children Society, Star Mountain Centre, Tulkarem Rehabilitation Centre, the Jerusalem Autistic Child Care Organisation and the Terre des Hommes inclusion project in East Jerusalem. I also thank Dr Sami Basha at Ahliya University in Bethlehem and Dr Sabrina Russo and Dr Zaher Nazzal at An-Najah University in Nablus for their time and involvement. I sincerely thank staff at the special needs department of the Ministry of Education, especially Shifa Sheika and Khalil Alwani, their colleagues and the many Inclusive Education Counsellors. They supported and contributed significantly to the research. A very special thank you goes to my constant ally, Salma Khalidi, for her friendship, the long and illuminating discussions, for helping with nuances of translation and for reading some drafts of my writing. I thank Jenny Mackness for the time she spent in teaching me how to develop a wiki, and I am very grateful to Neil and Alison Douthwaite for their expert help with the formatting and presentation of parts of my thesis. My supervisor, Karen Guldberg, has been a constant source of support throughout, showing real interest in my study and giving me confidence, perceptive guidance and encouragement as I and the research developed. Not least, I thank my husband, David Davis, for his good judgment, enduring support, and for timing his own projects in Palestine to coincide with my field trips so that he could accompany me. I also thank him for his careful reading of many drafts of my writing. My gratitude goes to those who gave permission for me to use the photographs I took during visits to illustrate my study. Maps (Figure 3) were reproduced with kind permission of Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The embroidery image (Figure 7) is credited to Sunbula / Steve Sabetta. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE THESIS ............................................................... 1 1.1 How the research came about ............................................................................................. 1 1.2 Relevance and timeliness ..................................................................................................... 2 1.3 The support of the Qattan Centre for Educational Research and Development ............ 3 1.4 Research design .................................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Theoretical underpinning ..................................................................................................... 7 1.6 Terminology ........................................................................................................................... 8 1.7 Organisation of the thesis .................................................................................................... 9 1.8 Introduction to the following three chapters .................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 2: THE CONTEXT: PALESTINE: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ............ 13 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 13 2.2 The Nakbah .......................................................................................................................... 13 2.3 The Occupation ................................................................................................................... 17 2.4 Palestinian solidarity and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement . 20 2.5 Education in Palestine ........................................................................................................ 22 2.6 Disability in Palestine ......................................................................................................... 30 2.7 Education of children with disabilities / special needs in Palestine .............................. 33 2.8 Autism in Palestine ............................................................................................................. 34 2.9 Conclusion and questions for my research ..................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 3: INCLUSION: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ........................................ 38 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 38 3.2 The concept of inclusion .................................................................................................... 38 3.3 Educational Inclusion in Palestine .................................................................................... 46 3.4 Inclusion, teachers and developing inclusive practice ................................................... 49 3.5 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER 4: AUTISM AND EDUCATION: A