Moving Forwards, Sideways or Backwards? Inclusive Education in Samoa

Abstract

The introduction of inclusive education (IE) has been promoted to meet the needs of all students. Initially this was a western-driven ideology but has been adopted by numerous developing countries such as Samoa. In this country, the education of students with special learning needs has followed the usual pattern of development from voluntary provision to government-funded segregated placements, followed by mainstreaming, and finally inclusion in regular schools. This qualitative phenomenologically oriented study gathered data from educators and parents about their perceptions of IE and how it was being implemented. The results indicated that this has not always been an easy transition and many participants in the study, although subscribing to the notion of IE, believe that there are a number of implementation difficulties, particularly around issues of support. In relation to this, IE is regarded as a borrowed policy that has overlooked cultural issues and ownership. A model for future developments is outlined and recommendations for future research are indicated.

Stakeholder perspectives on barriers and facilitators of inclusive education in the Solomon Islands

“…It seems that the western notion of schooling, and inclusive education, is highly problematic in the Solomon Islands context. This cultural disconnect, noted in other research in the region (Le Fanu, ; McDonald and Tufue‐Dolgoy, ; Miles, Lene, and Merumeru, ) is potentially responsible for many of the difficulties faced and must be challenged directly. Perhaps a new way forward can be found.…”

“…She involved 10 local participants in three focus group discussion (FGD) sessions, identifying three major themes in her data: negative community attitudes; teacher and school unpreparedness, and; a lack of national commitment towards inclusion. Each of these barriers could conceivably stem from a superficial application of a foreign education paradigm, as might be deduced from the work of McDonald and Tufue‐Dolgoy () and Miles, Lene, and Merumeru (). Lau's research was included in a broader study (see Sharma, Forlin, Sprunt, et al., ).…”

“…Competing cultural views and practices are shaping the implementation of inclusive education in the Pacific Region. McDonald and Tufue‐Dolgoy (), with reference to Samoa, suggest that while Samoa has an inclusive cultural context, it has ironically had difficulty implementing the Western conceptualisation of inclusive education. It is perhaps a disconnect between the traditional local culture and the adopted (imposed) European system of medicalisation and formal education that is at fault here.…”

“…On one hand, shame and anger exist, often meaning that parents feel too ashamed to send their child with a disability to school, or do not see the value in it. On the other hand, many community practices outside of schools continue to remain very inclusive (McDonald and Tufue‐Dolgoy, ). Miles, Lene and Merumeru (), also in Samoa, noted the importance of balancing the international rights‐based perspective of inclusive education with the reality of the local cultural contexts in the region.…”

Exploring Conceptualisations of Disability: A Talanoa approach to Understanding Cultural Frameworks of Disability in Samoa

“…The introduction of Samoa's National Policy on Disability (SNPD) in 2009, introduced a social model framework to Samoan society, promoting human rights agendas. Despite political success in the ratification of the CRPD and the ultimate adoption of a social disability model framework, stigmatising attitudes towards people with disability persist (Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development, 2009;Tufue-Dolgoy, 2010, 2012Lameta, 2013;McDonald and Tufue-Dolgoy, 2013). The introduction of the SNPD was a monumental step towards the reduction of societal barriers and the inclusion of people with disability.…”