Inclusive Education and Disabilities: Narratives from Ghana

Emma Seyram Hamenoo , Victoria Dayan
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.47985/dcidj.385
Submitted: 2020-11-02 09:31:24
Published: 2021-05-06

Purpose: Inclusive Education (IE) has been recognised internationally as the ideal model of educational access to all. Despite this, it faces many challenges. The present study explored the narratives of 10 participants with diverse disabilities in Accra, Ghana, keeping the focus on (a) how children with disabilities in an Inclusive Educational facility understand their educational experiences, (b) how they perceive their relationship with peers and teachers in school, and (c) how accessible they find existing school infrastructures.

Method: Using a phenomenological approach, data was generated through in-depth interviews with 10 participants from two selected schools.

Results: The experiences of participants, in some instances, were found to be two-sided. While participants felt accepted by some of their peers, they also experienced bullying by others. While some of the teachers were supportive, others were not. All the participants agreed that the physical school environment was disability-unfriendly.

Conclusion: Despite limited participation of children with special needs, greater stakeholder commitment was observed. This is promising for the future success of Inclusive Education in Ghana.

Keywords

Peer acceptance bullying stigmatization infrastructure mainstream school phenomenology

Authors

Emma Seyram Hamenoo

Emma Seyram Hameoo is an Associate Professor at Nord University, Norway. She holds a PhD in Social Work, MPhil in Peace and Conflict Transformation and B.A degree in Social Work. She has taught for several years at the Department of Social Work, University of Ghana. She is currently part of the teaching staff at the faculty of Social Sciences at Nord University. Her research interests include inclusive education, disability and child trafficking.

Victoria Dayan

Victoria Dayan is an Assistant Director with the Ghana Education Service. She holds an MPhil in Social Work and a B.A degree in Sociology and Theatre Arts. She is also a trained teacher with a Diploma from Tamale Training College. She is currently the head of the language department at St. John's Grammar Senior High School, Achimota, Ghana. Her research interests include inclusive education and disability. 

How to Cite

Emma Seyram Hamenoo, Victoria Dayan (2021-05-06). Inclusive Education and Disabilities: Narratives from Ghana. Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development, Vol. 32 No. 1 (2021): Spring, 37-51. https://doi.org/10.47985/dcidj.385

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