THE INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AT ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

384 Pages·2016·7.24 MB·English

by  Magda Botha

THE INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AT ADDIS ABABA
UNIVERSITY, ETHIOPIA: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS
by
TEFERIADNEWZELELEW
Submittedinaccordancewiththerequirements
forthedegreeof
DoctorofEducationinthesubject
INCLUSIVEEDUCATION
atthe
UNIVERSITYOF SOUTHAFRICA
Supervisor:DrCATHARINASUSANNAGOUS-KEMP
DECEMBER2016
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DECLARATION
Student number: 45447497
I declare that ‘‘THE INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AT
ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY, ETHIOPIA: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS’’ is my
own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and
acknowledged by means of complete references.
December2016
TEFERIADNEWZELELEW
This thesisissubmittedwiththeapprovalofmysupervisor
Dr CatharinaSusanna Gous-Kemp
DepartmentofInclusiveEducation
UniversityofSouth Africa
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I thank all who in onewayor another contributedto thecompletion of this doctoralthesis.
First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr C S Gous-Kemp, for her
persistent guidance, caring, and patience, and for providing me with an excellent atmosphere in
which to doandcomplete my doctoralthesis.
I would also like to thank the librarians of UNISA for accessing references which were important
for metodomy research.
Special thanks to Dr Jean Mitchellfor editing mythesis with great care andprofessional skill.
Iamverygratefultotheintervieweesandexpertswhoweremyinformants.Iwanttoacknowledge
and express my appreciationfor their help andtransparency during my research.
I also wish to thank my colleagues, Dr Seid Mohammed, Mr Tadele Fenta, Mr Mamo Mengesha
and Mr Yitna Gebre,for the encouragement andprofessionalsupport theygave meinthecourse
of the data collection, transcription andanalysis processesof this research.
Finally, I also thank my family: Genet Yilma, Eden Teferi and Bekalu Teferi who encouraged me
and prayed for me throughout the time of my research. They always supported me and
encouraged me with their best wishes. My research would not have been possible without their
help.
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SUMMARY
The inclusion of students with impairment in higher education needs enabling legal
frameworks to lay the foundation for equal opportunities for those learners in all aspects
of university life (Shepherd, 2001:17). To this effect, in the past two decades several
countries have revised their legal documents in order to promote inclusive education at
all levels of schooling. Accordingly, in 2006 the Ethiopian government also developed a
new legislative document, namely Special Needs Education Program Strategy, in order
to apply inclusive education in regular schools and in higher education institutions.
Following the introduction of this policy document, all regular schools and higher
education institutions in Ethiopia have been required to implement inclusive education as
a mandatory approach when educating students with impairment, including those who
are visually impaired. However, the actual implementation of an inclusive approach is
being challenged by the social, political and physical circumstances of higher education
institutions.
Therefore, this study aimed at examining the existing challenges and prospects towards
the inclusion of students with Visual Impairment (VI) in the particular context of Addis
Ababa University (AAU). The study adopted an interpretive paradigm for better
understanding and in-depth interpretation of the inclusion of students with VI at AAU. An
interpretive paradigm also informs the detailed judgements made by experts of a
suggested action plan for progressively providing support for students with VI at AAU.
The study also applied the critical disability paradigm as a complementary philosophical
baseinordertoexaminecriticallythechallengesthatstudentswithVIfaceandtosuggest
ways to transform the inclusive policies and practices of AAU in favour of the students.
The researcher undertook a Delphi investigation to address the main aim of this research
(i.e. to determine how best to implement an action plan that progressively increases
supportforstudents with VI at AAU overa period of time).Theactionplan that comprises
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various support measures and the necessary resources was developed using the
empirical results of this study as well as the existing findings and best practices found in
the literature study. It was scrutinized and approved by a number of experts. The
researcher recommends that the plan should be implemented over the next five years at
AAU in order to improve the support provided to students with VI.
KeyTerms: Inclusion, Inclusive education, Impairment, Students with visual impairment,
Higher education institutions, Challenges, Prospects, Delphi method, Support measures,
Action plan.
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TABLEOFCONTENTS
Declaration ii
Acknowledgements iii
Summary iv
TableofContents vi
Listoftablesandfigures xii
CHAPTER1
INTRODUCTIONANDORIENTATIONTOTHESTUDY
1.1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.2 BACKGROUNDTOTHESTUDY 2
1.3 PROBLEMSTATEMENT 3
1.4 AIMSOFTHERESEARCH 5
1.5 DEMARCATATIONOFTHESTUDY 5
1.6 RESEARCHDESIGN 6
1.7 CONCEPTCLARIFICATION 9
1.8 STRUCTUREOFTHETHESIS 10
1.9 CONCLUSION 12
CHAPTER2
STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND
INCLUSION
2.1 INTRODUCTION 13
2.2 INCLUSION 13
2.3 DISCOURSESONINCLUSIVEEDUCATION 15
2.3.1 Paradigmsandtheirpractical implicationsoninclusion 15
2.3.1.1 Themedicalmodel 15
2.3.1.2 Thesocialmodel 16
2.3.1.3 Critical disabilitytheory 17
2.3.1.4 Theoriesof learning 18
2.3.1.5 Themutualadjustmentmodel 22
2.4 LEGALFRAMEWORKSFORINCLUSIVEEDUCATION 23
2.4.1 Internationallaws 23
2.4.1.1 UnitedNations StandardRulesontheEqualizationofOpportunitiesfor
PeoplewithDisabilities(1993) 24
2.4.1.2 TheWorldConventiononSpecialNeedsEducation, Salamanca(1994) 24
2.4.2 National laws 25
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2.4.2.1 TheEthiopianConstitution 26
2.4.2.2 TheNewEducationandTrainingPolicy(NETP) 26
2.4.2.3 SpecialNeedsEducationProgrammeStrategy 27
2.5 THERIGHTSOFSTUDENTSWITHVISUALIMPAIRMENTINHIGHEREDUCATION 29
2.5.1 DefinitionofVisualimpairment 29
2.5.2 Strategiesforensuringtherightsandequalopportunitiesofstudentswithvisual
impairmentinhighereducation 29
2.6 CONCLUSION 35
CHAPTER3
STUDENTSWITHVISUAL IMPAIRMENTINHIGHER
EDUCATION
3.1 INTRODUCTION 38
3.2 HIGHEREDUCATIONREQUIREMENTSOFSTUDENTSWITHVISUALIMPAIRMENT 38
3.2.1 Institutionalrequirements 39
3.2.2 Policy 39
3.2.3 Admission 40
3.2.4 Strategicplanning 41
3.2.5 Accesstosupports 41
3.2.6 Resources 42
3.2.7 Requirements 43
3.2.7.1 Designinginclusiveprogrammes 44
3.2.7.2 Curricular requirements 44
3.2.7.3 Instructionalrequirements 45
3.2.7.4 Assessmentrequirements 45
3.2.7.5 Staffingrequirements 46
3.2.8 Social requirements 47
3.3 CHALLENGESTOINCLUSIVEHIGHEREDUCATION 49
3.3.1 Challengesassociated withinclusivepolicies 49
3.3.2 Challengestoaccessinformationandinclusivesupportsystems 50
3.3.3 Lackofcurricularaccommodations 50
3.3.4 Lackofresources 51
3.3.4.1 Humanresources 51
3.3.4.2 Physical/material resources 53
3.3.4.3 Financial resources 54
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3.4 POSSIBLESOLUTIONSFORREMOVINGCHALLENGESTOINCLUSIVE
EDUCATION 54
3.4.1 Enablingpoliciesandlegislations 55
3.4.2 Accessingsupportsservicestostudentswithvisualimpairment 55
3.4.3 Modifyingoradaptingthecurriculum 56
3.4.4 Adaptingtheinstructionalmethodologies 57
3.4.5 Adaptingtheassessmentmechanisms 58
3.4.6 Accessingresources 59
3.4.6.1 Humanresources 59
3.4.6.2 Physicalresources 61
3.4.6.3 Financial resources 63
3.5 BESTPRACTICESFORCREATINGAFULLYINCLUSIVEENVIRONMENT
INHIGHEREDUCATION 64
3.5.1 Policyandplanning 65
3.5.2 Selectionandadmission 66
3.5.3 Accesstogeneralandspecialistsupportservices 67
3.5.4 Bestpracticesforstaffdevelopment 68
3.5.5 Bestpracticestoaccessteachingandlearningstrategies 69
3.5.6 Bestpracticestoaccessexaminationandassessment 70
3.5.7 Bestpracticestoaccess physicalresources 71
3.5.7.1 Thephysicalenvironment 71
3.5.7.2 Facilitiesandequipment 72
3.6 CONCLUSION 73
CHAPTER4
RESEARCHMETHOLODOLY
4.1 INTRODUCTION 75
4.2 RESTATEMENTOFTHERESEARCHPROBLEM 75
4.2.1 Orientation 75
4.2.2 Formulatingtheresearchproblems 75
4.3 RESEARCHDESIGN 76
4.3.1 Philosophicalfoundation 76
4.3.2 Qualitativeparadigm 78
4.3.3 Exploratorycharacter 80
4.3.3.1 Casestudy 80
4.3.3.2 Delphimethod 81
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4.4 RESEARCHMETHODS 82
4.4.1 Sampling 83
4.4.2 Datacollectionmodels 85
4.4.2.1 Interviews 85
4.4.2.2 Semi-structuredquestionnaires 86
4.4.3 Datacollectionprocesses 87
4.4.4 Data analysismethods 89
4.4.4.1 Data analysis process 89
4.4.4.2 Drawingconclusions 91
4.4.5 Measurestoensurethetrustworthinessoftheresearch 92
4.4.6 Ethicalmeasures 93
4.5 CONCLUSION 94
CHAPTER5
ANALYSISANDINTERPETATIONOFDATAFROMINTERVIEWS
5.1 INTRODUCTION 95
5.2 RESEARCHQUESTIONS 95
5.3 INTERVIEWS 95
5.4 CHALLENGESTHATSTUDENTSWITHVISUALIMPAIRMENTFACEAT ADDIS ABABA
UNIVERSITY(AAU)
5.4.1 Lackofclearandenablingpolicy 98
5.4.2 Themedicalmodelof disability 104
5.4.3 Placementof choice 106
5.4.4 Lackof informationin alternativeformats 112
5.4.5 lackoforganised supportstructures 114
5.4.6 Lackofcurriculumadaptation 120
5.4.7 Lackof instructionalmodifications 123
5.4.8 Assessment-relatedchallenges 125
5.4.8.1 Lackof adaptationsandinterventionstoassessment 125
5.4.8.2 Finding readers/invigilatorsforexaminations 128
5.4.8.3 Financingassessment 130
5.4.8.4 Theplaceandtimeofexaminations 132
5.4.9 Accessingresources 135
5.4.9.1 Lackof humanresources 135
5.4.9.2 Inaccessibilityofthephysical/materialresources 137
5.4.9.3 Lackof financialresources 146
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5.4.10 Thesocial circumstancesofstudents 148
5.5 SOLUTIONSTOOVERCOMETHECHALLENGES 153
5.5.1 Solutionssuggestedbystudentparticipantswith visual impairment 153
5.5.2 Solutionssuggestedbylecturer participants 158
5.5.3 Solutionssuggestedbyseniormanagerparticipants 164
5.6 CONCLUSION 168
CHAPTER6
DATAANALYSISANDINTERPRETATIONFROMDELPHI
QUESTIONNAIRES
6.1 INTRODUCTION 169
6.2 RESEARCHQUESTIONS 169
6.3 DELPHIEXPERTS 169
6.4 THEDELPHIINVESTIGATION 171
6.5 PRESENTATIONOF DATAFROMTHESECONDROUNDDELPHI
INVESTIGATION 172
6.5.1 Supportmeasurestobeimplemented inYear1 172
6.5.1.1 Policies 172
6.5.1.2 Admission 173
6.5.1.3 Additional supportservices 173
6.5.1.4 Adaptationof curricula,instructionalstrategiesandassessmenttools 174
6.5.1.5 Provisionofadequateandrelevanthuman,physicalandfinancial resources 175
6.5.2 Supportmeasurestobeimplantedin Year2 178
6.5.2.1 Policies 178
6.5.2.2 Admission 179
6.5.2.3 Additional supportservices 179
6.5.2.4 Adaptationof curricula,instructionalstrategiesandassessmenttools 180
6.5.2.5 Provisionofadequateandrelevanthuman,physicalandfinancial
Resources 182
6.5.3 Supportmeasurestobeimplantedin Year3 184
6.5.3.1 Policies 184
6.5.3.2 Admission 184
6.5.3.3 Additional supportservices 185
6.5.3.4 Adaptationof curricula,instructionalstrategiesandassessmenttools 186
6.5.3.5 Provisionofadequateandrelevanthuman,physicalandfinancial
Resources 188
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