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Facilitators of inclusion in Singapore primary schools
Author
Lo, Fiane Ying Han
Supervisor
Chong, Wan Har
Abstract
Since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's announcement in 2004 that conveyed the government‟s vision for a more inclusive Singapore, our nation has made steps towards including students with disabilities in mainstream schools. While the literature is abound with success factors that contribute to educational inclusion, it is timely to take stock of what have worked or are perceived to be necessary by school personnel who have firsthand experience with inclusion in our local context so that future practices can be better informed. Using a qualitative approach, this study examined the perspectives of 202 school personnel from 41 resourced primary schools with regards to the facilitators that have supported inclusive efforts in their experiences thus far. The findings indicated that positive attitudes and acceptance of special educational needs, gaining support from trained school personnel, establishing good internal school processes to pass on information and share practices, as well as effective communication and collaboration between stakeholders to be among the facilitators that helped in the process of inclusion. At the same time, school personnel perceived the presence of gaps that still need to be worked on if inclusion is to be more effective. Our educational system‟s high expectations on academic achievements, room for little flexibility in differentiation of teaching instructions as well as gaps in capacity building of school personnel were some highlighted areas that the nation may need to rethink in looking ahead. Implications of the findings and recommendations for future directions were discussed.
Date Issued
2015
Call Number
LB1775 Lo
Date Submitted
2015