‘Nothing about us without us’: Assessing the Attitudes of Deaf Learners towards Inclusive Education
Andile Alfred Mdikana *
Department of Inclusive Education, School of Educational Studies, University of South Africa, P.O.Box 392, Unisa, 0003, South Africa.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This article reports on a study conducted on South African Deaf learners’ attitudes towards inclusive education. Respondents were a non-probability (convenience) sample of seven learners aged between 17 and 25 years. A questionnaire containing ten open-ended questions was designed and administered to assess learners’ attitudes towards inclusive education. The questionnaire took participants between 30 and 60 minutes to complete in a group-based context. The help of a sign language interpreter was undertaken. The data collected were analysed using thematic analysis. The results reveal that six of the respondents were in favour of being granted the opportunity to express their innermost feelings rather than be told by teachers what their attitudes should be.
Keywords: Inclusive education, mainstreaming, deaf education, special educational needs