| dc.description.abstract | There is a continuing disparity in educational services in Kenya for children with disabilities. Traditional African beliefs, cultural perspectives, and religious practices have resulted in negative attitudes toward individuals with disabilities. As a consequence, educational services for individuals with special needs are not being addressed adequately. The purpose of this study
was to investigate the factors that are influencing successful implementation of inclusive education among learners who have special needs in education in primary schools in Nairobi County.
The objectives of the study were to identify the school based factors leading to unsuccessful implementation of inclusive education of learners with visual impairment 111 primary schools, to determine to what extent educators' personal variables such as qualifications do, attitudes, age and grades taught influence how best they fulfill their roles and responsibilities and become more inclusive in their approach. It also seeks to establish the social factors influencing the implementation of inclusion of learners with visual impairment. To collect data, a questionnaire was used as a research instrument.
The questionnaire was divided into three parts with section one seeking demographic data on the respondents. Section two sought teachers' responses on a Likert - type scale while section three consists of open-ended questions requiring teachers to give information on the various research objectives. The study was a descriptive study adopting an ex-post. It employed a qualitative research design. The study targeted 50 teachers from the 10 schools who were sampled using systematic random sampling. The major research instruments were questionnaires.
Questionnaires were administered to teachers who were sampled conveniently. Data was analyzed qualitatively. It involved narration that was put into patterns that follow themes developed from the research questions. This data was supported by quantitative data derived from the teachers. The results revealed that educators do not show an understanding of inclusive education and are uncertain of their roles. The educators' lack of knowledge, little or no experience, uncertainty about roles, inadequate training in teaching learners with barriers in learning and development result in a high percentage of educators holding negative attitudes towards inclusion of learners with barriers in learning into regular classrooms. The study revealed that teachers need quality comprehensive pre-service and in service training on how to handle learners with special needs in education. The study recommended that the schools should provide quality comprehensive in-service courses. | en_US |
