Teachers Involvement in Creation of Awareness to Members of School Community on Inclusive Education Practice in Regular Primary Schools in Siaya County

Abstract

Inclusive education is a process that involves the transformation of regular schools to become accessible to all learners regardless of their diverse needs. Teachers’ involvement in this transformation is significant in sensitizing members of the school community to fully participate in inclusive education practices in their respective schools. Lack of awareness about inclusive education practices has been captured in the Kenya national special needs policy framework of 2009 as a common problem. Preliminary information indicates that there is low level of advocacy and lobbying among the regular teachers, parents, communities and ministry of education officials on inclusive education practices. Baseline information shows that 48(7.52%) regular schools in Siaya County still practice integration and learners enrolled in the special units hardly transit to mainstream classes. The rate at which learners with special needs access regular education in the county is equally very low. This is despite the presence of teachers with background training in inclusive education in the county.  The purpose of the study was to determine teachers’ involvement in awareness creation on inclusive education practices. Objectives of the study were to: -establish the methods teachers use to create awareness on inclusive education to members of the school communities; determine the frequency with which teachers created awareness among the members of the school communities and determine teachers’ involvement in awareness creation on inclusive education. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population comprised of 216 teachers and 72 head teachers. Out of which 10% were used for piloting.  Saturated sampling technique was employed to select 194 teachers and 65 head teachers for the study.  Instruments for data collection included Questionnaires, Interview Schedule, Observation Guide and Document Analysis. Content and face validity of the instruments were determined by experts in the school of education and their comments and recommendations were used to determine the validity of the instruments.  Reliability of the instruments was established through test re-test method and correlation coefficients of 0.76 and 0.78 were obtained for teachers and head teachers respectively at a level of significance of 0.05.  Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics while qualitative data was transcribed and categorized into emergent themes. The study established that teachers mostly used school forums, seminars and workshops as the main methods of creating awareness to members and that they rarely create awareness to members. The result also indicated that teachers were involved in creation of awareness to members of the school communities to a fairly small extent. The study concluded that teachers were involved in creation of awareness but not to a level that was encouraging. The study recommended that:-teachers still need to intensify the creation of awareness to members of the school community especially to parents and local members of the community for them to fully participate in inclusive education practices.