Bachelor of Education Honours in Inclusive Education

Purpose

The Bachelor of Education Honours in Inclusive Education aims to capacitate and strengthen professional teachers to support teaching and learning processes in a diverse and complex schooling environment. The qualification offers intellectual enrichment and intensive, focused and applied competencies, which meet the requirements of inclusive education. It is intended to prepare learners for research-based postgraduate studies in a particular field of education. It serves to consolidate and deepen a learner's knowledge of the field and to develop research capacity in the methodology and techniques of that field. This qualification demands some theoretical engagement and intellectual independence. The qualification has a research project that will include conducting and reporting on research under supervision. The purpose of the qualification is to provide a stimulating qualification which will contribute to an enhancement of the learner's theoretical and strategic insights into Inclusive Education. This qualification is intended for learners to explore with lecturers some important educational issues and to develop the learner's capacity in inclusive education as well as research. It will allow learners to share views as to what might constitute a crucial educational issue and will attempt to accommodate these into the qualification (either through assignments or in discussion).

The purpose of this qualification is also to develop the Educators' research capacity by deepening their knowledge and understanding of Inclusive Education (IE) policy and value. This qualification is premised on the need to prioritise and establish the development and sustainability of a teaching and learning environment in which knowledge and skills that are crucial to obtaining an individual and collective advantage in an increasingly integrated and competitive world context of inclusive classes are developed.

Rationale

This qualification will fulfil the requirement that all South African educators be competent in Inclusive Education to be able to manage learning and teaching in an inclusive classroom. The qualification will assist educators to gain insight into the Inclusive Education (IE) policy on learners who experience barriers to learning and development; the nature of the barriers to learning and development; early identification and continuous assessment of learner with learning barriers; centre-of-learning-based learning support and the education network of support on the different levels. The qualification is in line with the needs of the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to contribute to the satisfaction of the national need to empower/enable educators, education leaders and managers to develop the skills, knowledge, and values needed for Inclusive Education (IE).

This will enable learners to lead and manage schools, other education institutions and education districts effectively in the implementation of IE policies. This will help to contribute to improving the delivery of quality education to all learners, especially those experiencing barriers to learning, thereby making the schools and education districts more effective in producing top results.

The qualification will ensure relevance and social responsiveness to the diverse needs of the African, South African and global context. This qualification would allow learners to learn in more flexible ways of studying that fit with their work, family and other commitments. By firmly anchoring education in the life of the people, education would no longer encourage escape from Bantu society but would fulfil its true function of uplifting the community as a whole and of educating leaders for this community (Eiselen as quoted in Seroto, 2013, p.104).

Even though the Department of Higher/Basic Education does not have the professional bodies that qualify assure qualifications, however, there are guidelines from various documents such as Salamanca Statement, MRTEQ and White Paper 6, UNESCO (2008) as the international monitoring body states that learners should not be discriminated against and are catered for equal and quality education. The South African Constitution states that all learners have a right to equal education. In addition to the Constitution, the Department of Basic Education published the Education White Paper 6 that specifically caters for learners who have learning barriers. This qualification will assist to cater for those learners who were previously not admitted either in mainstream or special schools due to their mild learning difficulties.

The qualification has been designed and developed as per the requirement of the Policy on Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications (MRTEQ) Guidelines; Government Gazette, 19 February 2015).

The qualification serves as a means of in-service training and continuing professional education. It will provide educators with the opportunity to upgrade their qualifications, enhance their IE competencies while simultaneously enabling them to contribute to the establishment of an inclusive culture in schools. Completion of a Bachelor of Education Honours degree meets the minimum entry requirements for a 180 Credit NQF Level 9 Master of Education/Professional Master's Degree in Education. Therefore, graduates of this qualification will articulate to a Master of Education qualification.

Learners who will be admitted for this qualification are teachers/educators, office-based departmental officials, school managers, university academics and curriculum designers. Qualifying learners will teach in mainstream and special schools, and may also be involved in policy implementation, and guide and monitor the curriculum implementation.

Qualifying learners will be able to meet their learners' educational needs based on the acquired skills from pedagogical approaches in an inclusive classroom to deal with complex learning environments especially in an inclusive classroom. Inclusive education in its nature opens the active participation of parents in the teaching and learning of their children in learning without exclusion or being discriminated.

The qualification will benefit schools, communities, society and the economy in which the qualifying learners are employed and will enhance learning and teaching as well as the development of educational policies related to the chosen topics of their research projects, due to the advanced knowledge and research skills that the qualification will offer. The society at large will benefit in the awareness and advocacy of inclusive education. Qualifying learners will assist in reducing the failure rate, drop-out rate and illiteracy status of the country by relieving the government of the obligation to support learners with barriers to learning.

While the majority of the learners are school teachers, some work in other areas of the local and national education systems, such as curriculum advisors, curriculum designers and developers, community educators and education and training officers in non-governmental organisations or government departments. Therefore, in this qualification discussions and assignments will be flexible enough to accommodate this diversity of educational practice, and everyone's educational insights are likely to be enriched by exposure to these diverse perspectives. The qualification will provide learners with an opportunity to renew and re-invigorate their insights into and enthusiasm for Inclusive Education.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

The institution has a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Policy which is aligned with the National Policy and Criteria for the Implementation of RPL. The institutional RPL Policy will be used to assess learners who apply for accessing this qualification through this route.

Recognition will only take place where prior learning corresponds to the required admission requirements into this qualification and in terms of applied competencies relevant to the contents and outcomes of the qualification.

Any learner who wants to enter this qualification through RPL is expected to provide a portfolio of evidence (PoE) of prior learning. The learner should draft a written application and submit this application with the PoE. The learner is subject to a substantive assessment by the responsible persons at the Faculties of Education and Departments responsible for the qualification.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is

• Bachelor of Education, NQF Level 7.

Or

• A three-year general Bachelor's Degree, NQF Level 6 and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education at NQF Level 7.

Or

• A four-year professional teaching qualification(s), NQF Level 7.

Or

• Advanced Diploma in a cognate specialisation, NQF Level 7.

This qualification consists of the compulsory and elective modules at NQF Levels 7 and 8 totalling 120/128 Credits.

Compulsory Modules, Level 8, 120/128 Credits

• Addressing Learning Barriers, 16 Credits.
• Curriculum Theory and Development, 16 Credits.
• Discourse in Inclusive Education, 20 Credits.
• Introduction to Theories of Inclusive Education, 20 Credits.
• Research Methodology, 18 Credits.
• Research Project, 30 Credits.

Optional Module, Level 7, 8 Credits

• Integration of Technology in Learning and Teaching, 8 Credits.

1. Demonstrate ability in identifying, screening and assessing barriers of learners in the teaching and learning processes.
2. Illustrate critical and creative professional skills, in a variety of contexts regarding inclusive education.
3. Display an understanding of; and the ability to apply rules, principles and theories that are responsive to inclusive education and training systems.
4. Understand the language of educational research, various research designs and methodologies to develop an understanding of different research processes and the writing up of findings and conduct and report on a research project in the field of curriculum design, development and policy.

The following Associated Assessment Criteria will be applied across all Exit Level Outcomes

• Identify and select appropriate tools and procedures for inclusive classes.
• Design and plan lessons for inclusive education.
• Address current socio-economic and psycho-social challenges in a variety of contexts.
• adopt alternative strategies to accommodate all learners
• Apply theories and principles that are innovative and adaptative to the curriculum for inclusive education.
• Adopt appropriate intervention strategies to cope with various challenges facing teaching and learning barriers.
• Understand and appreciate the values of good research in maintaining and promoting worthwhile curriculum practices.
• Develop an understanding of the variations that exist in educational research and their reasons.
• Appraise different researches and their merits.
• Show commitment to high social responsibility as teachers and educational professionals in carrying out research and making interpretations on research.
• Design and carry out research and report on research on current educational issues.

Integrated Assessment

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment marks are submitted for capturing. The assessment is focused on applied competences. All formative assessment tasks will be examined and moderated internally. Feedback from internal examiners will be forwarded to internal examiners for appropriate action and for use in improving learning and teaching. The proposals for Honours Research Projects are approved and recommended at the departmental level and submitted to the Faculty Board for endorsement. Supervision for the Research Project will form part of the formative assessment, as the supervisor constantly guides and assesses the learner work throughout the research process.

Postgraduate seminars are part of formative assessment. These will be held at regular intervals where postgraduate learners present their work. These will be platforms for learners to defend their work and receive constructive feedback from peers, supervisors and the broader body of academics. Supervisors must attend these seminars when their learners are presenting.

Learners are required to present in two seminars: one on their research proposal and the other on completion of their study. Meeting the requirement of a stipulated number of seminars is important for monitoring research progress and also for developing research presentation skills, but seminar assessment will not contribute to a learner's internal mark.

Summative Assessment

Summative assessments are integrated into the learning in that they take place at the end of each of the constituent modules of the qualification. Summative assessments are in a form of shall be a form of written examination and a research project. Quality assessment is central to credible certification and recognition of learner achievement. The institution ensures credibility in assessment through the application of clear and rigorous procedures and practices, in keeping with the principles of fairness, validity, reliability, practicability and is aligned to the outcomes of the modules and the exit level outcomes of the qualification. Clarification of the rules and relationship between formative and summative assessment is provided.

For the Research Project: Formative and Summative assessment.

Supervision for the Research Project will form part of the formative assessment, as the supervisor constantly guides and assesses the learner work throughout the research process. Summative assessment will be informed by formative assessment.