The teaching profession has been referred to as the noblest of all profession because it does not only require knowledge and skills, but a high level of professionalism, dignity, honour and leading by example. It is also noble in that all people come through the hands of teachers from basic to higher education. While inclusion of all diversity has become a topical issue after attainment of independence in African countries largely and in South Africa particularly, little has been done to understand how students with disabilities are being professionalised into the teaching profession within the context of teacher education in higher education, as they experience teaching practice in settings for integrated learning and they are socialised to identify with the teaching profession in mainstream settings.
My quest to write this book has been influenced by the fact that there is need to give students with disabilities an opportunity to speak out on the opportunities and obstacles they confront as they are being professionalised, so that more opportunities are afforded, and the obstacles are overcome. This will assist them in graduating into the teaching profession, and also to contribute to skilled workforce that South Africa is expected to produce, which can compete globally. A genuine inclusive society is one which is totally transformed to include all diversity that even those with disabilities, to be actively involved in contributing to the development of their societies socially, politically and economically as they participate in the teaching profession.
My interest in professionalisation of students with disabilities into the teaching profession is that I am also a teacher, who had come a long way through teaching within contexts of exclusive social environments that excluded other social groups such as teachers with disabilities and learners with disabilities. As an educator, I had to overcome obstacles and remove barriers for all diverse learners so they that could access learning within the mainstream settings. Having been a regular class teacher for many years, and also a ‘specialist teacher‘, I realised that though there are inclusive education policies, the higher education system in African countries and settings for integrated learning have not yet fully transformed to include all diversity, in the area of professionalisation into diverse professions, and the teaching profession in particular, which is foundational to all other professions. It is against that background that as the author of this publication, I explored the experiences and perceptions of students with disabilities, Disability Unit staff members and the academic staff, with regards to professionalisation into the teaching profession at one institution of higher education in South Africa. The academic staff’s experiences
The publication utilised the survey questionnaire and interview method to source experiences and perceptions of undergraduate and post-graduate students with disabilities, who were studying in the Programme of Education at one School of Education, at an institution of higher education in South African. It is also based on the experiences of Disability Unit staff members who were full time staff members supporting students with disabilities at the institution at the time. The academic staff members’ experiences and perceptions were sourced during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period in history that had a significant impact on the education of all students globally, and exacerbated implications for students with disabilities. Though professionalisation during the pandemic was with a separate group of students with disabilities during the pandemic, the experiences shared and propositions for improvement provided by the academic staff add value and contribute to the critical issue of disability inclusion in contemporary scholarship in general and to the disability field specifically.
The lenses of Decolonial Theories (DT), complemented by Critical Disability Studies (CDS), were used to analyse and nuance both the affordances presented, and the hidden underlying causes of the challenges confronted by students with disabilities during professionalisation into the teaching profession at the sampled institution and at schools as settings for integrated learning. Propositions provided by students with disabilities, the DU and the academic staff were presented and also nuanced to analyse their feasibility and possibility for change and improvement. The author also offers her own propositions for change and improvement which were informed by her decolonial standpoint.
It is hoped that the book will inspire higher education authorities, the academic staff, and all students with and without disabilities, disability support providers, such as Disability Units staff members, including policy makers, to understand the issue of professionalisation of students with disabilities into the teaching profession. This is to ultimately work collaboratively to create an inclusive society, within a fully transformed social environment that is inclusive to all diverse students, including students with disabilities. This will consequently result in teachers with disabilities actively and meaningfully participating in the teaching profession and making a positive contribution to the inclusive education, within an inclusive society, as expected in South Africa.