Teachers perceptions about children with learning disabilities in main stream classroom in a private school of Karachi, Pakistan

Date of Award

8-1-2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Master of Education (M. Ed.)

Department

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Abstract

The aim of this research study was to investigate the perceptions of the teachers about children with Learning Disabilities in order to facilitate them in mainstream classrooms in a private school of Karachi, Pakistan. Furthermore, in this research, the researcher aimed to identify and describe the facilitating and hindering factors in the teaching and learning processes of a mainstream classroom setting. The research looked at the perceptions, facilitating and hindering factors, along with the teachers' understanding regarding diversity, inclusive education and mainstream classroom setting. The paradigm that was chosen for this research was the exploratory approach and the strategy was inductive, the outcomes were descriptive and the meaning mediated through the researcher was used as the instrument. This paradigm accounts for multiple realities and highlights the importance of context. Moreover, this qualitative exploratory study was done with the aim to describe the phenomena accurately. Furthermore, a purposive sampling strategy was adopted and semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers who participated in the study. The key findings of this study showed that the teachers working at school had a good understanding and sense of what diversity and inclusive education entail. Their attitudes were generally positive and they embrace diversity and see inclusive education as having many advantages. The teachers feel well-supported in their school environment and there is a display of a sense of belongingness among the staff. The teachers highlighted the facilitating and hindering factor in their interviews. Encouragement from the management and parents' sides, pedagogical knowledge, self-experience, tendency of sharing experience of the teachers were-some of the facilitating factors. In contrast, according to finding of the research study, the interactive gap between teachers and parents, insufficient pedagogical knowledge, workload, ups and downs in parents' expectation regarding children's learning outcomes and lack of classroom resources were found out as the hindering factors for the teaching and learning process.

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