Abstract
The inclusive education policy in South Africa requires teachers to accommodate learners who are experiencing Specific Learning Difficulties (SLD) such as dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and dyslexia in mainstream classrooms. Teachers experience supporting learners with SLD as challenging, particularly in overcrowded classrooms, and are often unprepared for the curricular modifications and adaptations required. This interpretivist, qualitative, phenomenological study investigated how teachers perceive their roles and how they could overcome challenges experienced when teaching learners with SLD. Eight secondary schools were purposively selected from rural areas in the Mutshindudi circuit in the Limpopo province to participate in the study. Data sources were from verbatim transcribed semi-structured interviews with a teacher and a learner from each school. Additional data were gained from the researcher’s observations at each school and field notes. Thematic content analysis generated six themes. The findings revealed that learners with SLD in rural secondary schools are inadequately supported, which often causes them to be troublesome and aggressive towards teachers. Insufficient teacher training was evident as teachers lacked skills to educate adolescent learners presenting with learning difficulties in regular classrooms. Most teachers used rote memorisation and dreary drilling methods to train learners in the curriculum content to pass the tests and thus progress to the next grade, without ensuring learners have a thorough understanding of the subject's content. Teachers were under pressure from the Department of Education, which stipulates that learners may not fail a grade more than once. The inflexible curriculum, inadequate teacher subject knowledge, and inappropriate teaching materials and didactics contributed to learning breakdown and high dropout rates among learners with SLD. The researcher proposes that the Department of Basic Education provide adequate teacher training focusing on positive interventions, and appropriate learning support material to equip teachers with focused knowledge and practical skills for teaching adolescent learners with SLD in secondary mainstream classrooms. KEY WORDS: Inclusive education, Learning support; rural schools; secondary schools; Specific Learning Disabilities; qualitative research.
M.Ed. (Inclusive Education)