Previous studies conducted on the implementation of inclusive education in South African full-service schools showed that teachers lacked knowledge and expertise in inclusive teaching practices. Furthermore, in some international studies, it is recommended that, to enhance inclusive teaching, it was necessary to involve the teaching communities concerned, using their in-depth understanding of the problem at hand, to come up with emancipatory solutions that could assist in the design of effective teaching strategies to enhance inclusive teaching. Therefore, this study investigated the role of participatory action research (PAR) in enhancing teachers’ inclusive teaching practices in full-service schools. This qualitative PAR study was conducted for 6 months by a research team comprising 12 teachers in a full-service school in the Johannesburg East District of South Africa. Data were collected through PAR stages of planning, observation, action, and reflection. To analyze data, during PAR, group interpretative meetings were held with coresearchers and, after PAR process, an inductive qualitative thematic content data analysis was done by the researcher. Among the findings from the study was that teachers’ understandings of inclusive education were varied. Their conceptions about what it meant to be an inclusive teacher in a full-service school context were also vague. However, the study has found that through PAR participation teachers were able to share and develop own understandings of these concepts. Furthermore, the study identified a need for teachers in a full-service school to be reflective, critical, and innovative about their teaching practices to cater for diverse learner needs in the classroom, which are skills necessary for enhancing inclusive teaching and learning. The study has confirmed PAR as a viable change strategy of teaching toward inclusion.
The contribution of community engagement towards shaping leadership development in students is an area that is not well explored in research. A study was conducted to establish the type of leadership skills and values that were acquired by a group of students from an established private school in Johannesburg, South Africa, while they served an underprivileged community. The private school adheres to both Round Square discoveries framework and the International Boys’ School Coalition’s character education and practices the leadership development programs that have been developed by the two organisations. This was a qualitative research study within the constructivist paradigm with a phenomenological approach. Reflection sheets were used to collect data from 120 students. The data was analysed through discourse analysis, where all recurrent terms were coded, and the codes grouped into themes which were then matched against existing literature, the Round Square discoveries framework and the International Boys’ School Coalition’s character education. The study found that community engagement experience helped refine the character of the students, affording them opportunities to develop leadership skills and values that would see them adjust well into the 21st century way of life. The study was, however, not able to determine how other learning areas and developmental fields impacted on the leadership development of the students.
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