Education is an emerging issue

Education is an emerging issue

• Education is an emerging issue that, over the years, continues to attract significant attention among educationists, human rights activists, governments and global organizations like the United Nations and the International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity (IFAPA). Of specific interest is the inclusion of persons living with disabilities, otherwise called physically or mentally challenged persons, in education programs in all societies.
• The origin of inclusion in education can be traced back to a special school. Special education placed learners with disabilities in entirely separate settings or was supplementary to general education, an example being the Adapted Physical Education that is initiated in 1952 in the USA (Sherrill, 2004). These approaches were, however, challenged by human rights activists and their efficacy interrogated by education critics (UNESCO, 2005). Exceptional education, therefore, began its transformative journey to integration, then inclusivity. One of the challenges at integration was that schools were not mainstreamed infrastructurally, policy-wise, or curriculum-wise to be responsive to the needs of disabled students. In 1994, twenty-five international organizations and ninety-two governments had their representatives assembled in Salamanca, Spain, at a World Conference on Special Needs Education (UNESCO, 1994). The outcome of the conference was ‘The Salamanca Statement on Principles, Policy, and Practice in Special Needs Education” encapsulated in The Salamanca Declaration on Education for Children with Special Needs (UNESCO,1994). This declaration and the accompanying framework for action posits that regular schools that have provisions for the disabled students. It has best entry points for diminishing attitudes that are discriminatory against the disabled, and have a direct bearing on society’s acceptance of challenged persons (linguistic, physical, social, intellectual, emotional, or any other) as well as providing equal opportunities to education for every member of the society (UNESCO, 1994). Policymakers in education in all U.N. party states that ratified the declaration were thus expected to ensure that disability does not, under any circumstance, become a reason why a child with a disability cannot attend any school in the neighborhood. Instead, children with any form of the challenge are expected to participate in school programs and activities just like they would have had they not been disabled.

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• However, it remains a challenge for most educators, especially Physical Education teachers, as many of them whine that governments lack the commitment to provide resources and training needed to adequately and effectively include physically challenged students in Physical Education programs (Ronnie Lidor and Yeshayahu Hutzler (2019). This is accentuated by negative attitudes exhibited by the school communities against students with disabilities, a situation that calls for the considerable allocation of resources towards awareness creation and advocacy programs intended to teach behavioral dispositions that exhibit positive attitudes towards such persons.
• UNESCO function of the United Nations established the Education For All (EFA) global movement that sought to fulfill the learning needs of all adults, youth, and children by 2015 as encapsulated in paragraph 19 of the Dakar Framework of Action (UNESCO, 2000). One of its fundamental principles is inclusivity. However, a report released by UNESCO in 2006 following the adoption of EFA by the Dakar Framework in 2000, painted a grim picture of a whopping 25 million children with disability out of school, out of the 77 million children of school-going age expected to be in school but out of school. (UNESCO, 2006). The report further observed that children and youth with disabilities still experienced exclusion from education in developing nations and from quality inclusive education in rich countries. This was attributed to the lack of clear guidelines in the framework for monitoring progress in achieving EFA goals that were developed, as it ignored children and youth with disabilities (UNESCO 2005). The weaknesses in the EFA document led to the development of the ‘Guidelines for Inclusion: Ensuring Access to Education for All,’ a policy tool by UNESCO to assist governments in revising and formulating EFA plans. At the core of the document’s themes is the right to education for people with disabilities, hence inclusion.
• EFA Global Education Monitoring Report GEM) released in 2015 exposed loopholes in global education systems that impeded the achievement by 2015, of Education for All goals. Critical among them was funding and political will (UNESCO, 2015). Aaron Benavot, the Director of the Global Education Monitoring Report, observed that vacuums in accountability frameworks of the political class, denied education the attention it deserves. There is a lack of leadership for inclusive education. Teachers lacked training, guidance, knowledge, and supports to adopt an inclusive curriculum.
• there was a lack of infrastructure for inclusive education in terms of governance policy, planning, financing, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Still, public support for inclusion was minimal (GEM, 2015). To make sure that inclusivity is achieved, the report recommends that governments, donors, and civil society must develop programs and target funding to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, closing all critical data gaps so that resources are directed to those most in need (UNESCO, 2015). The post-2015 EFA goals seek to address these gaps by requiring governments and states to ensure that access is available to students with disabilities for all opportunities – including Physical Education(UNESCO, 2015).
• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (UN CRPD) and its Optional Protocol is a tool that was developed by the United Nations that explicitly seeks to transform the approaches and attitudes to disabled persons and scales up disability rights, firmly placing the disabled persons at the center of the envisaged change. It was adopted on 13th December and operationalized on 3rd May 2008 (U.N. General Assembly, 2007). It adopts a broad categorization of disabled people. The CRPD describes a person with a disability as inclusive of those who have long-term mental, intellectual, physical, or sensory deficiencies whose communication with several obstacles may deter their complete and effective involvement in society on the same basis as other people.
• CRPD had far-reaching implications for EFA, especially for post-2015 EFA goals. Among them is Article 3 on General Principles, which stipulates that EFA objectives must contain measures that warrant that students with disabilities can access all education opportunities-including Physical Education. Further to this is Article 7 on Children with Disabilities, which states that parties shall undertake all necessary measures to ensure that children with disabilities get to enjoy all forms of human rights and fundamental freedoms as with other children.
• view of this background, it is clear that the inclusion of the disabled in education programs still has challenges. This research proposal seeks to identify challenges faced by Physical Education educators towards achieving the desired inclusivity goals, with a view to suggesting an intervention that can considerably mitigate against such challenges.

2.0 PRELIMINARY LITERATURE REVIEW

The question of inclusivity in physical education in schools traces its roots to a number of entities, among them the International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity (IFAPA) and the United Nations through its UNESCO, CRPD, and WHO. The dominant theme in all pieces of literature associated with these entities on inclusive learning is not only advocating for social justice but also advancing knowledge and understanding of human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons living with disabilities. IFAPA lays emphasis on sport and physical activity by advocating for deliberate policy-making, coordination, promotion, and sharing of research and evidence-based achievements globally. Numerous research findings are published in its official scholarly journal, ‘The Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly’ (www.IFAPA.net). The American Association for Health coined a school-based phrase, Adapted Physical Education in 1952, that published a definition and guidelines for adapted physical education as a recommended school subject for students who could not safely or successfully participate in vigorous general physical education programs (American Association for Health, 19520. CRPD recommends the Universal design of school systems, which essentially means the design of services, programs, environments, and products are usable by everyone to the furthest possible extent, without having to adapt or come up with a unique design but excludes assistance devices for selected groups of persons with disabilities where there is need (U.N. Convention, 2007). It also underscores the appreciation of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity, hence have rights to equal opportunities in all spheres of life.

There are myriad studies on inclusivity in physical education in school programs by many scholars and research students. Most of these studies, however, outline what inclusivity entails, and policy and program-related challenges that teachers of physical education in inclusive settings face; but fail to address challenges emanating from framework deficits where lived experiences of physical education teachers, and the physically challenged students could be addressed, as well as propose elaborate, effective and efficient pedagogical approaches that can sufficiently address these challenges. This study, therefore, seeks to identify some of these challenges and to strongly propose a pedagogical approach(es) that bridges the gaps while further recommending ways of upscaling these approaches for more significant achievement of inclusive education goals and objectives.

3.0 ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

3.1 Research Problem

• significant hallmark of an effective educator, as per the AITSL, is the teacher’s knowledge of their students’ characteristics in relation to their learning abilities. Physical disabilities pose significant learning implications for such challenged students. The challenges may be neurological, orthopedic, or traumatic (WHO, 2011). Yet the number of students with physical disabilities continues to rise and is projected to hit the mark by 2025 (UNESCO, 2016). In the U.S. alone, the 2010 census registered 2.8 million school-aged children with disabilities (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). A large number of them are enrolled in regular education classes in public schools. Teachers of Physical Education, particularly, must therefore be alive to the needs of students with disabilities not only from the knowledge they acquire during college teacher training but also from the narratives of the lived experiences of the disabled students and their descriptions of their needs.
• latter presents many physical education teachers with inclusivity challenges as some of the lived experiences are unspoken out of lack of frameworks to facilitate such discussions, or out of fear of discrimination or judgment by school communities and/ or larger societies. A chronicle from a partially blind American partially reads:
• A lot of teachers act like I’m totally blind, but I can see some things
• I look out of the side of my eyes…sometimes people think it’s
• like I am not looking at them when they are talking to me, but
• the only way I can see.'(NEA Today, 2011)

Another student who had severe cerebral palsy had a completely different experience at the Elementary school he attended. He narrates that during one of the school’s Field Days, realizing that he could not participate in all of the games, he joined in when there were races around the track.

‘I had a wheelchair then, and I was burning rubber around the track…

Everyone was cheering. I won the race. This proves that inclusion

can happen every day if we are as inclusive as possible. You just

have to let kids find a way to participate.'(NEA Today, 2011).

This observation reiterates the need to address challenges, attitudinal or resource-oriented, faced by physical education teachers to enable them to practice inclusive pedagogical approaches effectively and efficiently.

A health and physical education teacher in an inclusive school encounters daily challenges that make the teaching experience very complex and demanding of constant creativity and innovation. This is because physically disabled students present a variety of learning needs, sometimes varying for one student from one day to another, that must be addressed by the teacher. In order to come up with a framework that can minimize the distractions caused by these challenges for all the learners, there is need for action research that will help the teacher undertake a system analysis, identify gaps, carry out research, document, disseminate information and by following laid down procedures, participate in the possible operationalization of methods that will adequately address emergent and prevalent challenges, hence enhancing the achievement of the goal and objectives of inclusive learning.

This study, therefore, aims to identify difficulties faced by teachers of physical education in determining specific needs of disabled learners and the subsequent impact on practicing inclusive education; and to explore best practice pedagogical approaches that can significantly mitigate against such difficulties with a view to giving students with disabilities fulfilling experiences that make them feel accepted as normal members of school communities and societies in general as per the CRPD Article 7. This is significant as it will provide physical education teachers with useful insights in identifying learner needs and, at the same time, provide students with pedagogical approaches that are non-discriminative.

3.3 JUSTIFICATION OF PROPOSED RESEARCH

This proposal seeks to justify a collaborative approach to the teaching and learning experience of teachers of physical education and physically challenged students in inclusive schools, where students, teachers, and parents are included in decision-making processes with regard to education programs for physically disabled learners. This is significant as it affirms inclusion as a socialization process where normal students are confronted with the reality of accepting and accommodating physically challenged students, whereas education programs capture specific learner needs and proposed pedagogical approaches towards achieving the program objectives(UNESCO, 2005). The literature on collaborative approach is a dearth, hence the study will contribute significantly to its body, provide bases for further research as well as supply information for policymakers that is crucial towards formulating best practice policies that will enhance inclusivity in physical education in education systems.

3.4 JUSTIFICATION FOR ACTION RESEARCH

Action research as a social science research methodology allows for research and action at the same time. It is described as a research procedure that compares various forms of social action and research that lead to social action(Lewin, 1946). It is diagnostic by nature through a repetitive cycle, thereby exposing weaknesses in a program and recommending action that can mitigate the flaws.

Given that pedagogy is a combination of curriculum, methodology, and socialization of learners, this Action Research is an appropriate pedagogical project as it will enable the researcher to analyze the three components of pedagogy concurrently. That the researcher will carry out the research in the institution where he works also makes it less formal and prescriptive as it addresses practical problems that are specific to the institution in relation to the delivery of P.E. programs. Findings of research action will serve as a guide to decision makers within the institution when making critical or otherwise decisions for future actions, as well as inform the design of academic programs. While action research typically seeks to solve a particular problem or answer a specific question, it can also make a significant contribution to the larger body of knowledge and understanding in the field of education, especially in relatively controlled systems such as schools and organizations.

4.0 METHODOLOGY

4.1 Ethical Concerns

Before undertaking the action research, the researcher will obtain relevant permissions form the relevant governing bodies. These will include clearance from the National Health and Medical Research Council(2007) and the Human Research Ethics Committees, which are mandated by the Australian Government to maintain quality standards in human research. As encapsulated in The National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2018), the researcher will uphold research merit and integrity, observe distributive and procedural justice, and exercise beneficient. To this end, the researcher will, through the entire period of the research, uphold the utmost respect for human dignity of the participants. He will avoid all forms of unethical conduct, including plagiarism, misuse of privileges, breach of confidentiality, breach of anonymity, or posing any harm, either physical or psychological, to the participants. (Mugenda, 2003). Further, the researcher will conform to the principle of voluntary and informed consent based on information regarding a) the purpose of the research study b) any foreseen risks c) a guarantee of anonymity and confidentiality d) identification of the researcher e) benefits and compensation or lack of them (Mugenda, 2003).

The researcher will further seek security clearance from the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency (AGSVA) so as to access classified information and resources.

4.2 Research Questions

The action research will be guided by two overarching research questions:

• What is the best practice pedagogical approach in physical education programs in an inclusive school?
• In what ways can the identified best practice pedagogical approach be scaled up to enhance the inclusive teaching and learning experience in physical education?

4.3 Research Variables

Corwin (www.crwin.com) defines a variable as any characteristic that is central to the topic of research and, therefore, the research question about which the researcher wishes to draw conclusions. From the research questions, the inclusive school is the independent variable, while the pedagogical approach is the dependent variable.

4.4 Participants

The action research will include all members of three categories of the school community. The categories are school managers, teachers, and assistant teachers. It will also include all students in grades eight to twelve.

4.5 Action Research Model

The researcher will follow the full cycle of the Action Research Process. The four-stage cycle consists: 1) Planning 2) Acting 3) Developing 4) Reflecting. The cycle will be repeated within a span of three months until desired findings are arrived at.