Interpretation of inclusive education practices in science at a basic school

Abstract

The research was a case study designed to investigate inclusive education practices in a science class at a Basic School in Winneba, Ghana where inclusive education is practised as in all ten regions. The sample for the study consisted of one head teacher, a science teacher, three interpreters and one resource teacher from the Basic School. The main instruments used for data collection were questionnaires, informal interviews and observations. Findings showed that the teacher and interpreters both prepared for science classes having special needs in mind. However, about half of the respondents, upon interaction with them, demonstrated that the earnestly did not have the expertise to organise inclusive science classes. Team preparation and teaching were highly practised for support. It was recommended that they use multi-media technologies, attend teacher development programmes, and use their limited teaching resources to augment their teaching skills as they are mostly not used.  Since the study was conducted in only one inclusive school, the findings may not be for generalization.