COLLEGES OF EDUCATION TUTORS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE ADAPTATION AND MODIFICATION APPROACHES FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITIES IN GHANA

Richard Amoako, Isaac Attia, Adam Awini, Raphael Denteh

Abstract


The article sought to determine perceptions of Colleges of Education tutors on how the current Colleges of Education curriculum equips pre-service teachers to adapt and modify the general school curriculum to accommodate the needs of all children with special educational needs and disabilities for effective inclusive education in Ghana. A descriptive survey design was adopted using a sample of 235 tutors from 13 Colleges of Education in Ghana. The lottery method was used to select four regions out of the sixteen regions of the country and the purposive sampling technique was used to select all the colleges within the four regions, while convenience sampling technique was used to select the actual respondents for the study. Questionnaires with closed ended items were developed for the data collection. It was evident from the study that majority of the tutors believed that the curriculum prepares pre-service teachers to adapt the general school curriculum to accommodate the needs of all children with special educational needs and disabilities in an inclusive classroom. Recommendations were made based on the findings and conclusions were drawn.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


inclusive education, pre-service teacher preparation, colleges of education, adaptation and modification, children with special educational needs and disabilities, perceptions, Ghana

Full Text:

PDF

References


Ainscow, M. (2007). Towards inclusive schooling. British Journal of Special Education, 24(1), 3-6.

Ainscow, M., Booth, T., & Dyson, A. (2007). Improving schools, developing inclusion. Abingdon: Routledge.

Ali, M., Mustapha, R., & Jelas, Z. M. (2006). An empirical study on teacher perceptions towards inclusive education in Malaysia. International Journal of Special Education, 21(3), 36-43.

Bender, W. N., Vail, C. O., & Scott, K. (1995). Teachers’ attitudes toward Increased mainstreaming: Implementing effective instruction for students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 28, 87-94.

Bradshaw, L., & Mundia, L. (2006). Attitudes and concerns about inclusive education: Bruneian in-service and pre-service teachers. International Journal of Special Education, 21(1), 78-91.

Cochran-Smith, M. (2003). Learning and unlearning: The education of teacher educators. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Council for Exceptional Children (2011). CEC performance-base standards. Retrieved 10th December, 2014 from the Council for website: http://www.searcheric.org/digests/ed449120.html

Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Constructing 21st Century Teacher Education. Journal of Teacher Education, 57(3), 300-306.

Diendong, M. N. (2006). Attitudes of regular and special education teachers towards Inclusive Education in the Winneba Circuit. African Journal of Special Education Need, 4(3), 362-369.

Edwards, S., & Kuhlman, W. (2007). Culturally responsive teaching: Do we walk our talk? Multicultural Education, 2(3), 45-49.

Florian, L. (2007). Re-imagining special education. In L. Florian, (Ed.) The handbook of special education, (pp. 80-87). London: SAGE publications

Ghana Education Service (2005). Conference of heads of second cycle schools: Adjumako, Central Region, Ghana.

Gilbert, C., & Hart, M. (1990). Towards integration: Special needs in an ordinary school. London: Kogan Page Ltd. Hargreaves, A. (2003). Teaching in the knowledge society. Maidenhead: OUP

Hargreaves, D. (2006). Personalising Learning 6: School Design and Organisation. London: Specialist School Academies Trust.

Hart, S. (2000). Thinking through teaching. A framework for enhancing participation and learning. London: David Fulton.

Hayford, S. K. (2007). Continuous assessment and lower attaining pupils in primary and junior secondary schools in Ghana. PhD Thesis: University of Birmingham. Retrieved 21st June, 2014 from http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/128/1/Hayford08PhD.pdf

Kazija, K. L. (2010). The implication of teacher expectation: A Review of Research. Capher Journal, 18(6), 21-27.

Khumyt, P. (2010). The inclusion movement and teacher change. Where are the limits? McGill Journal of Education, 33, 29-251.

Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30, 607 – 610.

Levitz, E. (1996). Specialised education-the way forward. Publico, 2(3), 7-10.

Lipman, P. (1996). Restructuring in context: A case study of teacher participation and the dynamics of ideology, race and power. American Education Research Journal, 34(1), 3-37.

Lolovi, J. (2011). Professional training and the Outcomes Trap. Journal of Teacher Education, 57(5), 415.

Malarz, L. (1996). Using staff development to create inclusive schools. Journal of Staff Development17(3), 34-39.

Molina, S. (2006). Teacher education students and first year in-service teachers’ perception about their initial education in relation to the special educational needs of Spanish Pupils. In H. Gash (Ed.), Beginning teachers and diversity in school: A European study (pp. 42-49). Institute Politécnico de Bruganca Report of Research undertaken within Comenius Project.

Moore, C., & Gilbreath, D. (1998). Educating students with disabilities in general education classrooms: a summary of research. Oregon: Western Regional Resource Centre.

Rink, J. E. (2002). Teaching physical education for learning. (4th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Rix, J., Hall, K., Nind, M., Sheehy, K., & Wearmouth, J. (2006). A systematic review of interactions in pedagogical approaches with reported outcomes for the academic and social inclusion of pupils with special educational needs. In: Research Evidence in Education Library. London: EPPI-Centre, University of London.

Schumm, J. S., & Vaughn, S. (1995). Getting ready for inclusion: Is the stage set? Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 10(3), 169-175.

UNESCO (1994). The Salamanca statement and framework for action on special needs education. Paris: Ministry of Education, France.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2001). Open File on Inclusive Education. Paris: UNESCO. C2.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v8i5.3756

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2021 Richard Amoako, Isaac Attia, Adam Awini, Raphael Denteh

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2015-2023. European Journal of Education Studies (ISSN 2501 - 1111) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All authors who send their manuscripts to this journal and whose articles are published on this journal retain full copyright of their articles. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).