Inclusion in Southern African Education: Understanding, Challenges and Enablement

This book reflects on more than two decades of adoption practices of inclusive education policy in Southern Africa. It is aimed at taking stock of the successes, challenges and achievements during this journey of making education inclusive and equitable. It responds to the educational needs of learners at all levels, regardless of their diverse needs, such as disability, gender, socio-economic status, race, ethnicity and language background.

This book furthers the understanding and conceptualization of the notion of inclusion in education, and explores the challenges experienced during the operationalization and implementation of the process. It extends debates spawned by international and national policy mandates that sought to transcend exclusionary educational practices in order to realize inclusive societies and, by implication, inclusive classrooms.

It offers a comprehensive conceptual framework for inclusive education in the Southern African context while drawing parallels from the regional and international experience. This book can be used as a reference or critical reading for scholars and researchers in the field of inclusive education. It will empower practitioners, administrators, teachers and school leaders, curriculum developers and planners, as well as policy makers with knowledge about theory and practice regarding inclusive education in the Southern African schooling system.

Dipane Hlalele is a Professor in the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and has extensive experience in teaching inclusive education at higher education institutions. In addition to supervising postgraduate research students and postdoctoral fellows in the field of inclusive education, he also examines a number of masters and doctoral candidates from other universities. A number of his students are lecturers in the field of inclusive education at their respective institutions as well as specialists in their own countries. He was a national team member in the development of inclusive teaching standards for beginner teachers and a consultant on infusion of inclusion in Mauritian teacher education.

Tsediso Michael Makoelle is one of the recipients of the prestigious Nelson Mandela scholarship to the United Kingdom (UK). He holds the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Inclusive Education from the University of Manchester, UK and a Doctor of Education (D Ed) in Education Management and Leadership from the University of South Africa (UNISA). He has been working at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan  for nearly eight years in the capacities of associate professor, full professor and Director of Doctoral Studies, General Director for Research and lately the Vice Dean for Research at the Graduate School of Education.