Participatory Action Research: A Tool for Enhancing Inclusive Teaching Practices Among Teachers in South African Full-Service Schools

Previous studies conducted on the implementation of inclusive education in South African full-service schools showed that teachers lacked knowledge and expertise in inclusive teaching practices. Furthermore, in some international studies, it is recommended that, to enhance inclusive teaching, it was necessary to involve the teaching communities concerned, using their in-depth understanding of the problem at hand, to come up with emancipatory solutions that could assist in the design of effective teaching strategies to enhance inclusive teaching. Therefore, this study investigated the role of participatory action research (PAR) in enhancing teachers’ inclusive teaching practices in full-service schools. This qualitative PAR study was conducted for 6 months by a research team comprising 12 teachers in a full-service school in the Johannesburg East District of South Africa. Data were collected through PAR stages of planning, observation, action, and reflection. To analyze data, during PAR, group interpretative meetings were held with coresearchers and, after PAR process, an inductive qualitative thematic content data analysis was done by the researcher. Among the findings from the study was that teachers’ understandings of inclusive education were varied. Their conceptions about what it meant to be an inclusive teacher in a full-service school context were also vague. However, the study has found that through PAR participation teachers were able to share and develop own understandings of these concepts. Furthermore, the study identified a need for teachers in a full-service school to be reflective, critical, and innovative about their teaching practices to cater for diverse learner needs in the classroom, which are skills necessary for enhancing inclusive teaching and learning. The study has confirmed PAR as a viable change strategy of teaching toward inclusion.