An Assessment of the Theory and Practice of Inclusive Education, with Special Reference to Secondary Teacher Education in Zimbabwe

The purpose of this study was to examine the relevance and effectiveness of the inclusive education programme run by secondary teachers colleges in their preparation of student teachers for the challenges of teaching students with diverse learning needs as found in regular secondary schools. An intensive research approach which applied qualitative techniques of data generation was used. The study utilised information from multiple sources such as participants from a purposively selected secondary teacher education institution, key informants from the area of education, and documents from the department that taught inclusive education at the selected college. Data on barriers to learning and achievement of students in secondary schools were generated from what were judged to be information-rich sources, using focus group discussions, and semi-structured interviews. The model used for assessing the inclusive education programme was designed for that purpose, through a combination of two theories Program Evaluation Theory by Rossi, Lipsey, and Freeman (2004) and Discrepancy Evaluation Model by Provus (1969). The findings of the study revealed that the inclusive education programme run by teachers colleges did not take into consideration what was viewed by participants and key informants as barriers to students learning and achievement in schools. Based on the findings, the study made a number of recommendations on what strategies could be used by teacher education to develop student teachers for inclusive teaching. The recommendations included the following that Zimbabwe should reach a point of consensus on the meaning of inclusive education, that barriers to learning experienced by students in the schools should be used to inform inclusive education programmes for teachers colleges, and that the teaching of reading should be deliberately factored into all the subject majors in teacher education.