Policy strategies for effective implementation of inclusive education in Kenya

Abstract

Educational frameworks mandate schools to adopt, design and implement strategies that support inclusive education. Despite the inclusive education policy, disability remains a major course of exclusion in learning institutions. The paper discusses the impact of school strategies in overcoming physical barriers that hinder the implementation of inclusive education. The actual sample constituted 151 respondents. The data were collected using questionnaires to identify views from 100 teachers teaching learners with disabilities, interviews from 11 learners with disabilities to discuss personal experiences on physical barriers and 5 focus groups discussions with non-disabled learners learning in the same classroom with learners with disabilities. The study was guided by Social Model of Disability and adopted a mixed method research design. Quantitative data were analyzed using inferential statistics. The ANOVA and t-test were done to test the study hypotheses. Qualitative data were organized by developing codes, then categorized into themes and presented in a narrative form. Linear regression was carried out to check the linear relationships between the variables. The study established the school strategies were not anchored in overcoming physical barriers that hindered the implementation of inclusive education, with various challenges affecting the strategies. For this reason, learners with disabilities have to adjust to get the needed education or drop out of school. Therefore, the study concluded that ineffective school strategies contributed to lack of overcoming physical barriers and this negatively impacted the implementation of inclusive education in schools. School transformation founded on clear inclusive education vision and philosophy, policies and inclusive strategies are necessary to overcome physical barriers hindering the implementation of inclusive education.