The Role of Faculties of Education in the Preparation of Primary School Pre-Service Teachers for Inclusive Classrooms (Published)
Universities in South Africa are responsible for training primary school teachers. These teachers should be competent to teach learners with and without disabilities in the same classroom environments. With the exception of very few universities in South Africa, the majority offers courses that do not adequately prepare teachers for inclusive classrooms. This quantitative study was pegged on the literary debate and used the Modified Survey of Attitudes towards Inclusion of Learners with Special Needs to collect data from 149 primary school pre-service teachers. The findings revealed that pre-service teachers who took a module on Barriers to Learning have a good understanding of the teaching of learners with special needs, they possess appropriate skills to teach learners with and without disabilities in inclusive classrooms and are confident that they have inherent qualities and mental temperament to deal with special needs learners.
Keywords: Inclusive Education, Persons With Disabilities, Pre-Service Teachers, Special Needs Learners, Teacher Knowledge, Teaching Skills And Dispositions