ATTITUDES OF TUTORS TOWARDS INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN MAINSTREAM COLLEGES

 ACASE STUDY OF SHIMON, GGABA, KIBULI

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

This chapter covers the background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research objectives, and research questions, scope of the study, significance of the study and the conceptual frame work.

1.1.0      Background to the study

This section include; historical background, theoretical background, conceptual background and contextual background.

1.1.1 Historical Background

Attitude of the tutors towards the children with disability has never been positive since the ancients times, In the ancient Rome, children with disabilities were treated as objects of scorn. Children who were blind, deaf, or mentally retarded were publicly persecuted and reported to have been thrown in the Tiber river by their parents. Some children born with disabilities were mutilated to increase their value as beggars. Other children born with disabilities were left in the woods to die, their feet bound together to discourage anyone passing by from adopting them. In the military city of Sparta, the abandonment of “deformed and sickly” infants was a legal requirement. In addition to that one of the great philosophers in the ancient Rome “Aristotle” further recommended that, there should be a law that no deformed child lives (Stiker, 2019).

In England there was exclusion of disabled children from ordinary schools, which occurred routinely in England until the late twentieth century was not recognized as something of concern to the society and it was not until the 1918 Education Act, which made schooling for all disabled children compulsory. This was one of the first steps towards have an inclusive education of all children with disability globally and By 1921, there were more than 300 institutions for blind, deaf, ‘crippled’, tubercular and epileptic children in England and in that tutors were taught to accept children with disability as part of the education system (Watson, & Vehmas, 2019).

In the united states the Public Law 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975) introduced a piece of legislation that drastically improved the way students with disabilities were treated in school settings. Consequently, through the decades that followed, peoples’ attitudes toward children and adults with disabilities have become more accepting. The earlier subhuman institutions were replaced with mindsets that advocated community integration (Blackie, 2018).

In African continent most of the communities viewed children with disability as community misfits and women who gave birth to children with disability were viewed as women with bad lack and cursed by the spirits as such children with disability were not allowed to receive education and therefore the tutors in these schools held the view that children with disability are not worthy of education and their ability to perform well academically is compromised by their state of physical ability. In Nigeria, for instance, negative attitudes of students with disabilities are rooted in beliefs. Disability is viewed as (1) a curse from God for perceived gross disobedience to God’s commandments) (2) ancestral violations of social norms (e.g. due to stealing) (3) offences against the gods of the land such as fighting and (4) breaking of laws and family sins such as 5  stealing and denying and (5) misfortunes as in the case of incest and (6) witches and wizards (7) adultery ( which is considered to be a major abomination) (8) a warning from the gods of the land due to supposed pollution of water and the land (9) arguing and fighting with the elders which is considered a taboo (10) misdeed in previous life such as stealing (11) illegal or unapproved marriage by the societal elders ( essentially arguing and fighting against the elders in marriage) (12) possession by evil spirits ( due to gross societal disobedience) and others, this therefore created a major disadvantage for children with disability to be included in mainstream college system and be in position to receive a good education  (Eskay, etal. 2012).

In Ghana, among the Ashanti, children with disability were rejected and not allowed to receive education. For instance, an infant born with six fingers would be killed upon birth (Odame,  et al., 2019). Children with severe special needs were sometimes described as being “animal-like” and would often be abandoned by the riverbanks or near the sea so they could return to what was believed to be ‘their own kind. People with disabilities were precluded from becoming chiefs and a chief who acquired a debilitating illness such as epilepsy would be de-stooled (Ackah-Jnr, et al., 2019).  In this view during the introduction of formal education in Ghana the children with disability were further viewed as not worthy receiving formal education as they were viewed as society misfits and this negative attitude moved from the community to the tutors whom the disabled students meant in colleges. In Ghana, education of children and youth with disabilities as started in 1936 and led to the establishment of a school for the blind at Akropong-Akwapim in 1946. Other Schools were built for the deaf, and the intellectually disabled in the sixties. These schools were mostly segregated and very few students with disability felt welcome in these schools due to the negative attitude of their tutors to them (Patterson, 2018).

Persons with disabilities face discrimination and barriers that restrict them from participating in society on an equal basis with others every day. They are commonly denied their rights to be included in the general school system and the workplace, to live independently in the community, to vote, to participate in sport and cultural activities, to enjoy social protection, to access justice, to choose medical treatment and to enter freely into legal commitments such as buying and selling property (Geere, Bartram, Bates, Danquah,  Evans, Fisher, & Nguyen2018).

In Uganda the attitude of tutors against students in colleges can be traced from the society perception as demonstrated by the then dictator and president of the republic of Uganda Iddi Amin dada who in November 21^st of 1975, ordered for the killing and throwing of disabled people in Nile river as he saw that disabled people were worthless of form education and therefore they need to be got rid of from the community (Drum Magazine, 2017).

Currently although there has been a significant improvement in the attitude of the community members towards the people with disability, majority of the students in colleges continue to perform poorly than their counter parts, they are also more likely to enroll in school late and leave earlier with fewer qualifications than other children. Estimates show that More than half (52.6%) of the pupils with disabilities are males. Out of 1,370,583 students enrolled in a secondary school in Uganda, 8,945 students (0.6%) have special learning needs. Visually impaired students comprise the largest share of these students, followed by those with physical disabilities, however these children continue to face a lot of discrimination from their tutors. More to that children with disability also have the highest failure rates in colleges than their counterparts with no physical disabilities.

1.1.2 Theoretical frame work

The study will be underpinned by Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (Bandura 1977).  According Bandura, behaviors are learned through observation and modeling. His social learning theory posits that children learn by observing the actions of others, including parents and peers.  The social learning theory furthermore, indicates that children develop new skills and acquire new information through observations. This theory will be used in examining tutors perception of disability on academic performance of student’s with disability, through Bandura’s theory of observation and modelling by others. It can be asserted that students with disability can learn through copying other and also it further shows that when the students are given equal treatment with their peers they can be able to perform well.

One the primary strengths of Bandura’s theory is its flexibility to explain differences in a child’s behavior or learning strategies. The theory highlights that children learn in a social context. This reinforces the idea that when there is a change in the child’s environment, the child’s behavior may change as well. For example, a child may have trouble following directions in a relaxed home environment, but have no problems with authority in a stricter school setting.

1.1.3 Conceptual Background

An attitude is a positive, negative, or mixed evaluation of an object expressed at some level of intensity. It is an expression of a favorable or unfavorable evaluation of a person, place, thing, or event. These are fundamental determinants of our perceptions of and actions toward all aspects of our social environment. Attitudes involve a complex organization of evaluative beliefs, feelings, and tendencies toward certain actions.

According to Gordon Allport, “An attitude is a mental and neural state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to all objects and situations with which it is related.”

Frank Freeman said, “An attitude is a dispositional readiness to respond to certain institutions, persons or objects in a consistent manner which has been learned and has become one’s typical mode of response.” while   Anastasi defined attitude as “A tendency to react favorably or unfavorably towards a designated class of stimuli, such as a national or racial group, a custom or an institution.”

Armstrong, (2004), contends that performance refers to both behaviors and results, and adjusting organizational behaviors and actions of work to achieve results or outcomes. Behaviors are outcomes in their own right and reactions to the product of mental and physical effort applied to tasks.  In school environments therefore, performance should not only be defined in terms of test scores, examination results, students’ ability to socially apply what is learnt, and the rate at which students move on to higher institutions of learning, but should consider the achievements of the school in other areas like equipping the learners with the requisite skills for survival, Merab (2010). However, the researcher is of the view that performance of any school should not only be considered from the academic outcomes only, but should also focus on other education outcomes such as the affective domains and the psychomotor skills.

According to Vlachou (1997) integration was perceived as a mechanism for promoting socialization between disabled and non-disabled children. Others like Corbett (2001) think that integration was all about children with disabilities having physical access to mainstream schools and specialist resources.

The development of inclusive education policies and practices is a step towards advocating for the education of children with disabilities in an incl usive education system (Mentis, Quinn & Ryba, 2005). In some parts of the western world, education for children with disabilities was underpinned by legislation. According to UNESCO‟s Salamanca Statement (1994), some of the important legislation and policies that are considered to promote the approaches of inclusive education.

School performance is an issue that deeply concerns students, parents, teachers and authorities not only in our country, The complexity of the academic performance starts from its conceptualization. Sometimes it is known as school readiness, academic achievement and school performance, but generally the difference in concepts are only explained by semantics as they are used as synonyms. Conventionally, it has been agreed that academic performance should be used in university populations and school performance in regular and alternative basic education populations.

Several authors agree that academic performance is the result of learning, prompted by the teaching activity by the teacher and produced by the student. From a humanistic approach, Martinez (2007) states that academic performance is “the product given by the students and it is usually expressed through school grades” (p. 34). Fifteen years ago, Pizarro (1985) referred to academic performance as a measure of the indicative and responsive abilities that express, in an estimated way, what a person has learned as a result of a process of education or training.

Perception is the sensory experience of the world. It involves both recognizing environmental stimuli and actions in response to these stimuli. Through the perceptual process, we gain information about the properties and elements of the environment that are critical to our survival

1.1.4. Contextual Background

There are 172,864 children with special needs in primary schools, which is 2.0% of total primary level enrollment and 9% of the overall children with special needs. Regarding the category of impairment, hearing (27.2%), mental (22.7%), visual (25.8%), and physical impairments (17.9%) constitute the percentages. More than half (52.6%) of the pupils with disabilities are males.

Out of 1,370,583 students enrolled in a secondary school in Uganda, 8,945 students (0.6%) have special learning needs. Visually impaired students comprise the largest share of these students, followed by those with physical disabilities. Pupils with autism and multiple handicaps were fewer among enrolled students. There is no data available on students with disabilities enrolled in universities and other tertiary institutions. There is an urgent need for such data to ensure equitable access to tertiary education

In Uganda, formal education is based on seven years of primary and six years of secondary education. Vocational, technical and academic courses are offered through post primary education and training institutions.  The education system, particularly secondary education, is still centrally managed by the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) whilst primary education is managed by local district administrations (MoES report, 2006). The role and importance of secondary education in national development is emphasized (World Bank Report, 1995).

In addition, the competitiveness, especially in high value added and knowledge based sectors of the economy, depends on knowledge, skills and competences associated with abstract reasoning, analysis, language and communication skills , application of science and technology which are most efficiently acquired through secondary education schooling (Lewin, 2001).

However, this requires new management styles in order to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.  Improved efficiency is needed and can be achieved through management reforms; raising the learner-teacher ratio, increasing teachers’ time on task, reducing repetition and improving accountability, Munyaka, (2013).

1.2 Statement of the problem

Whereas there have been some efforts to implement an inclusive education system to take care of all groups in the country, by and large inclusive education remains to be expressed in policy documents but with little to show on the ground since most of the communities members and teachers’ in Uganda still view students with disability as society misfits and therefore cannot be burdened with responsibility of studying. The Uganda Human Rights Commission, in its 2009 analysis of the government’s inclusive education policy, aptly captured the current state of Uganda’s students’ with disability academic performance. According to the report the inclusive education policy whose main goal is to ensure that all students have the right to education irrespective of whether one is disabled or not indicates the Government’s commitment to provide education to all students irrespective of their origin, social group, gender and their level of disability. It emphasizes offering quality education to all students irrespective of their state of disability in all levels of learning. However, the policy of inclusive education does not elaborate what inclusion and, has not engaged with the community members on means with regard to students with disabilities on different appropriate  that have to made to train professional teachers in viewing students with disability as having potential for good academic performance and success (UHRC, 2009). On another note the performance of children with disability is one of the poorest in all teaching colleges. According to the report by shimon core P.T.C , (2017) It has been revealed half of all the students with disability failed to get the pass mark in all subjects requirement for their completion of their studies as trained teachers in colleges. According to the Uganda Human Rights Commission report: The number of students’ with disability at college level have higher chances of failing exams than their counter parts.

The shimon core P.T.C report, (2017) also notes a sharp decline in the performance of children with disability and the declining trend in performance is increasing up today. It is against this background that this study intends to investigate into attitudes of tutors towards inclusion of students with disabilities in mainstream colleges.

1.3 Purpose of the study

The main purpose of the study is to examine the attitudes of tutors towards inclusion of students with disabilities in mainstream colleges.

1.4 Objectives of the study

1. To examine the influence of tutor’s attitude perception on academic performance of students with disability.
2. The relationship between tutors’ positive attitude on academic performance of students’ with disability.

• To determine the influence of disability on academic performance of students.

1.5 Research questions of the study

1. What is the influence of tutor’s negative attitude on academic performance of students with disability?
2. What is relationship between tutors’ positive attitude on academic performance of students’ with disability?

• What is the influence of disability on academic performance of students?

1.6 Significance of the study

1. The findings of the study will be used by the government institutions in determining the influence of tutor’s negative perception on academic performance of students with disability.
2. Shimmon and ggabba teaching colleges will use the information in this study to help in understanding the causes of poor performance of students with disability.

• The findings of this study will also be used by civil society organization in designing alternative policies that can enhance academic performance of students with disability.

1. This study will also enable in improving the perception of the tutors on students with disability.

1.7 Conceptual frame work

TUTORS’ ATTITUDE                                     ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE