Assessment of Selected Determinants on Implementation of Inclusive Education In Public Early Childhood Centers in Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

Inclusive education has been established as the key mechanism to delivering education to all learners where they have an opportunity to learn and grow together in a regular environment where their needs are identified and responded to appropriately. A baseline survey in Kisumu indicated that there were 662 public ECD centers with 17 known to be having children with diverse needs in their regular schools. Despite this, learners with special needs were still facing challenges hence access was still limited. These children therefore required some adaptations to be done in the school so as to participate effectively in the school activities and the learning process, otherwise their learning would be jeopardized, however little was known on the extent to which these diverse individual needs were being met. The purpose of this study therefore was to assess selected determinants on implementation of inclusive education in public early childhood centers in Kisumu County. The objectives were; determine extent of adaptation of the physical environment, extent of adaptation of the teaching and learning strategies, extent of adaptation of resources and the attitude regular teachers towards learners with special needs. The study was guided by a conceptual framework showing the physical environment adaptation, teaching-learning strategies adaptation, attitude of regular teachers towards learners with special needs and resource adaptation as independent variables and successful implementation of inclusive education as the dependent variable. A descriptive survey design was used. The study population comprised of 17 head teachers and 37 regular teachers. Saturated sampling was used to select 15 head teachers and the 34 regular teachers. Data was collected using questionnaires, observation and interview schedules. Validity of the instruments was ascertained through content and face validity. Reliability was established through test re-test method using 10% of the population. The reliability coefficient for the teachers‟ questionnaire was 0.86. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics; frequency counts, percentage and mean. Qualitative data was transcribed and analyzed through thematic analysis. The study findings revealed that the physical environment of centers in Kisumu County was adapted to a small extent where the teachers‟ responses had an average mean of M=2.73, the attitude of most teachers was positive (M=3.02), teaching-learning strategies were adapted to a large extent where the teachers‟ responses had a mean of M=4.44, and the resources adapted to a small extent with mean of (M=3.09). This implied that the physical environment was not adequately adapted, the teaching strategies were adequately adapted, the attitude towards learners with special needs was positive and resources adapted to a small extent. This study therefore concludes that implementation of inclusive education had not been done as per the guidelines of implementation of the SNE policy (2018) and UNESCO‟s guidelines (2010). The study recommends that adaptation be made on the physical environment to ease access by learners with special needs, teachers to continually work with learners with special needs and advocate for positive attitudes and an environment of acceptance for all, teachers to embrace inclusive strategies in order to maintain interactive sessions in classes and teachers to be advised on the importance of all learners participating in the learning sessions and hence receive more guidance on adaptation of resources especially for those learners with special needs. Findings from this study have shed a light on the extent of inclusive education implementation to help enhance effective participation of all learners in the learning process without struggle.