CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

 Introduction

Inclusive education beliefs were formed by teaching experience. The teachers believe that their previous experience in teaching in regular classrooms or inclusive classrooms will help them to interact with special needs students.

For instance, there were some difficulties in educating the students with mental and physical disabilities in the same classroom as regular students. On the other hand, there were success stories of achievement in teaching. Hence, the failure and success that the teachers achieved will strengthen their beliefs in practicing inclusive education, as they learn from it.

This chapter shall handle the following: introduction, background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research objectives, Research questions, Research hypothesis, significance of the study, scope of the study and lastly definition of terms.

Background of the study

Historically, early efforts to educate persons with physical disabilities in developing countries in general was made by missionaries, (Norwich 2002). Since then, the various governments have become more sensitive and committed.

Special schools, classes, units and resource centers have been built. Teacher training facilities have been established locally in some cases, and more teachers have been trained locally and abroad. All these efforts notwithstanding, most developing countries have been caught in the web of international controversy of acceptable approach to effective education of persons with disabilities.  Inclusive education emerged by insisting that all children with special needs be included in the traditional classroom.

Before the emergence of the inclusive system, it was the concept of integration or mainstreaming, which was practiced. The concept of integration is based on integrating children with disabilities according to their needs and severity of their conditions. Some children with disabilities could benefit from total integration, while others benefit from units/special class or resource rooms.

More private institutions have been established in recent years, but most of them are in urban areas, Since the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975 and revision to the legislation in 2004 (IDEA, U.S. Department of Education, 2004), special education students must be instructed in classrooms with students without disabilities (Kilanowski-Press, Foote, & Rinaldo, 2010).

The IDEA legislation assists students with exceptional needs by providing for a proper education at no cost and providing services that prepare students for the work force and autonomous living based on their individual needs (Casale-Giannola, 2012).

Under IDEA, students with disabilities (SWD) receive individualized plans of instruction (IEPs), which include parental participation during the inclusion process when decisions are made about how students who have special needs will be educated in general educational classroom settings (Grenier, 2010).

Increasing enrollment of SWD also means an increase of SWD expected to show academic progress. If SWD do not demonstrate academic growth, districts across the country will face penalties from the U.S. government (Kaufman & Blewett, 2012).

Inclusive education beliefs includes various way by which defferent people and culture view inclusive education,(Norwich 2002). Inclusive education beliefs were formed by teaching experience. The teachers believe that their previous experience in teaching in regular classrooms or inclusive classrooms will help them to interact with special needs students.

For instance, there were some difficulties in educating the students with mental and physical disabilities in the same classroom as regular students. On the other hand, there were success stories of achievement in teaching. Hence, the failure and success that the teachers achieved will strengthen their beliefs in practicing inclusive education, as they learn from it.

However, since the middle of the nineties, the American system of inclusive education has spread like fire across the world. This expectation is a bit difficult for persons with special needs due to their handicapping conditions.

Educators and laymen alike having recognized the special needs of such children, youths and adults, have designed a number of programs (educational and non-educational) to give appropriate assistance in a variety of ways.

Traditional beliefs, customs and attitudes held by different ethnic groups in Cameroon have for a long time influenced the education and socialization of persons with special educational needs, Yuh & Shey (2008).

In some parts of the country, children with disabilities were and are still denied their basic rights especially the right to go to school, communicate and interact with peers in spite of global movement towards universalization of access to schooling for all children (world’s conference on education for all, Jomtien, Thailand, 1990; Salamanca conference on special need education, Spain 1994; millennium development goals, 2000). The right to education is clearly stated in the Universal Declaration of human rights (UNESCO, 1946); “everyone has a right to education”.

Some special needs children with talents in Cameroon and indeed the world over have lived and died without education. Many have also lived and died, unknown and perhaps unwanted, their talents loss of the detriment of the society (Abang, 1981). As it is the case in most developing countries, effective participation of all able bodied individuals is required for the building and total transformation of their respective societies.

The participants in the world’s conference on education for all re-affirmed the right of all people to education, particularly, Basic education. “We, the participants in the world’s conference on education for all, reaffirm the right of all people for education. This is the foundation of our determination, singly and together, to ensure education for all… together we call on government, concerned organization and individuals to join in this urgent undertaking.

The basic learning needs of all can and must be made…we adopt, therefore, this world’s Declaration on education for all; Meeting Basic Learning Needs and agree on the framework for Action to Meet Basic needs, to achieve the goals set forth in this declaration”. The Salamanca conference on ‘Special Needs Education’ held in June 1994 emphasized the need for policy change in the education of people with disabilities. The second goal in the Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) outlined in the “Millennium Declaration” of September 2000, focuses on ‘Achieving universal primary education’.

Special education in Cameroon began in an informal settings, especially in the family circles where some parents and family members of persons with disabilities tried to teach their children like skills, for example, showing the blind child how to wash his hands, and how to move around the home; making signs to a deaf child when communicating with it. Teaching all the children how to count in their local dialects and the use of local currency in buying and selling was also the pre-occupation of most parents in the early days in Cameroon.

The education of children with disabilities in the pre-colonial and colonial period indicates a slow yet steady recognition of the plight encountered by persons with special needs. The British Baptist Missionary Society first introduced western education in Cameroon in 1842. The number of schools remained with few Cameroonians gaining access to formal education.

Catholic and Presbyterian missionary societies, like the Pallotine Fathers, the Mill Hill missionaries and the Basel Mission also made substantial contribution to formal education. By the time German colonial rule was established after 1884, there were already a few Cameroonians who had been educated by the missionaries.

With the introduction of Christian education by western missionaries, consideration was given to the well-being of persons with disabilities. A small number of children were admitted in mission schools and were taught alongside other children. Nsamenang (1996) in his sketch in a proposed study of disabilities in Cameroon, points out that historically education and care for children with disabilities was rooted in the  community, church and charitable organizations. He argues that these services were organized as a protection consideration, and as an attempt to provide services which public education and training systems were unable to offer.

Before 1975, the welfare of persons with disabilities in Cameroon was the responsibility of a unit in the ministry of Health. As a matter of fact and misconception, disability was perceived as a disease and sometimes seen as incurable.

The question that most people asked was: How can people who are sick and cannot be cured go to school? Formal education for children and young adults with disabilities was done mostly in specialized centers with very few attending regular primary schools. The first center created in 1972 called “ecole specialisee pour Enfants Deficient Auditif-ESEDA (special school for children with Hearing Impairments), Yaoundé and L’externat Medico-Pedagogigue-LA COLOMBRE (special school for mentally retarded) Yaoundé.

These canters were run and managed by religious groups and parents of children with disabilities. With the creation of the Ministry of Social Affairs in 1975, a Department of National Solidarity was established to oversee the well-being of persons with disabilities and the very old. This department, in collaboration with the Ministries of Education has put in some efforts to improve the education of persons with disabilities.

Thus, the creation of many privately owned special schools or institution in almost all provinces of the country with some receiving yearly subsidies from the state took effect. Some of these institutions or special schools serve persons with specific disabilities, for example, those with mental retardation, visual and hearing impairments, behavioral disorders, and so on.

Others provide services to persons with multiple disabilities.  To train young Cameroonians with visual impairments in arts and crafts, the ministry of Social Affairs created the Rehabilitation Institute for the Blind (RIB) popularly known as Bulu Centre for the Blind in Buea. This was the first institution for persons with disabilities created by the government in Cameroon in 1973. It is under the control of the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Conceptually, inclusive educational beliefs are action guiding in the education of children with disabilities. In this context such believes include, teachers believes, family beliefs and cultural believes.

Zheng (2009) remarked that teachers’ beliefs are significant ideas in comprehending teachers’ thought processes, teaching methods, and learning to teach. Teacher beliefs are significant subjects in teacher education that have been designed to help teachers develop their thought and principles Teachers’ beliefs have been identified as an important factor, which influences teachers’ success as well as teachers’ practice in inclusive education Teacher beliefs about inclusive education are thus a crucial pre-requisite for its success.

Family believes refer to a situation where parents of students with disabilities take two positions on this issue. On one hand, and in a less numerous, there are families who do not support the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream schools (Green & Shinn, 1994).

And talking about cultural believes, Culture is a pattern of ideas, customs and behaviors shared by a particular people or society. It is dynamic, yet stable.  Culture is a pattern of ideas, customs and behaviors shared by a particular people or society. Beliefs are an important issue in every area that is related to human behavior and learning (Ajzen, 1988; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975).

The concept of physical disability, as WHO (2011) observes is broad and covers a range of disabilities and health issues, including both congenital and acquired disabilities. Mobility impairments range in severity from limitations on stamina to paralysis.

Some mobility impairments are caused by conditions present at birth while others are the result of illness or physical injury. Injuries cause different types of mobility impairments, depending on what area of the spine is affected.

UNESCO (2008) defines inclusive education as a process intended to respond to students’ diversity by increasing their participation and reducing exclusion within and from education. Swart and Pettipher (2005:4) see inclusion as the development of an inclusive community and inclusive education systems.

They emphasize the fact that it is about including everyone, regardless of ability, gender, language or disability, so that all learners can belong to a school and have access to the educational outcomes that schools offer. From these definitions it seems that inclusive education entails more than special needs and disabilities, and that it is concerned with comprehensive education and equality.

Inclusive education means a radical change in the way we think about education, but not just in relation to students with any difficulties or special educational need, but it’s for everyone. This educational model is, undoubtedly, one of the foundations for a democratic society and one of the values that, with multiculturalism, contributes to the creation of a new school and a better society which promote fair, equitable and humane politics (Moliner, 2008).

The way to an inclusive school is complex, and the changes and transformations involved multiple settings and actors: parents, teachers, students and members of community. So, we cannot ignore the role of families in this process, because as Carrillo (2008) said, the family is the first area of intervention in dealing with diversity.

Therefore support them is one of the first tasks of an inclusive school. From this educational model, it attached great value to families, to the information they possess, their participation and involvement in education, and their opinions and beliefs over this education model. In fact, the beliefs of families become very important in the process of educational change. Attitudes are built on these beliefs, also subjective norms, intentions and a inclusive or exclusive conduct. (Domenech & Moliner, 2011a).

Statements of the problem

A higher level of education enables students with physical disabilities to get better chances to integrate into society in general, and into employment in particular, so that they may sustain themselves financially with dignity.

Therefore, it is pertinent to promote an inclusive educational believes for them in learning institutions, which lead to academic success, and this prompted the study. It is a serious issue that the  numbers  of  students  with  disabilities  participating  in  higher  education  are minimal.  Various  studies  point  to  issues  of diverse believes towards  participation  of  students with disabilities  in  secondary  education.

Most teachers do not considered the fact that in their classrooms the learners are not the same, they believe in equity for all students as a result not having time to help the physically disable in their classrooms to meet up, also some families and culture draw conclusion so early as per their disable children while some see them as setbacks hence always pay less attention to such.

It is noted that participation of students with disabilities (SWD) in the learning activities in Buea Sub-division secondary school is poor, translating to below the total number of the students enrolled.

Furthermore, It was  observed  that  students  with  physical disabilities  complete  secondary  at  a statistically significant lower rate than able-bodied peers  indicating that there are issues with the believes towards the education by their parents and teachers for this group.  It is against this backdrop that the study investigated inclusive education believes on the education of children with physical disabilities in the Buea municipality.

Objectives of the Study

General objective

To examine the impact of inclusive education believes on the education of children with physical disabilities in the Buea municipality.

Specific objective

1. To examine the impact of cultural, believe about inclusion on the education of children with physical disabilities in the Buea municipality.
2. To examine the impact teachers, believe about inclusion on the education of children with physical disabilities in the Buea municipality.
3. To examine the impact of family, believe about inclusion on the education of children with physical disabilities in the Buea municipality.

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