Answer to Question #128984 in Sociology for Thuba

Question

2.3 give a detailed explanation on how special schools as resource centers support other schools in collaboration with the DBST.
3.1discuss how the following extrinsic barriers to learning can negatively affect learners in inclusive education settings
3.1.1 negative discriminating attitudes
3.1.2 an inflexible curriculum
3.1.3 inappropriate language or language of learning and teaching.
3.1.4 inaccessible and unsafe built environment.

Answer 1

2.1 Supporting learners who require high levels of support SSRC will continue to provide specialized knowledge, support, services and equipment to learners with high-level support needs. For some learners it is necessary to have specialized schooling because they require a high level of support. Besides, to using the National Curriculum Statement, SSRC will also provide comprehensive education programs that provide life-skills training and programme-to-work linkages. The learning programs developed by SSRC should focus on the individual needs of learners and contribute to the development of the necessary and relevant skills, knowledge, values and attitudes which will assist them in entering the world of work.

The staff at SSRC will have specialized skills and will help to develop learning material to specifically assist learners. The material will be available to other educators in the district. Ideally, learners will only remain in SSRC for a short time while they are taught the skills and prepared for transition into full-service or mainstream schools. However, in some cases learners will need to remain in SSRC for their entire school career. Ideally, all schools in the province would have these resources and skills, but because of financial constraints, SSRC will serve as nodes of service delivery. Support for District Based Support Teams. Representatives of SSRC should be integrated into DBSTs so that they can provide specialized professional support in curriculum, assessment and instruction to designated FSS and other neighborhood schools. They will be transformed from special schools to SSRC, putting an emphasis on their roles as resources centres for other schools and for the DBST. Together with the DBSTs, the SSRC will serve as a solid support base for FSS and mainstream schools in the immediate local and in the district. One of the roles of the SSRC with the DBST is to indicate how learners with disabilities will be identified, assessed and incorporated into SSRC, FSS and mainstream schools.

Besides, SSRC can provide support with regards to curriculum, assessment and instruction, via their involvement with the DBST. SSRC specialist staff play a particularly important role in that they provide support to the community, visit schools and offer teaching resources. SSRC professional staff can also assist other schools through the development of learning materials for learners with disabilities and those experiencing barriers to learning in mainstream schools. In addition, the professional staff at SSRC should run training workshops in their districts for other educators. These workshops could focus on providing additional support in the classroom.

3.1.1 Negative discrimination is a situation where a person is treated poorly based on his or her race, ethnicity, disability, gender, or as well as in relation to his/her background. As a result of these discriminations, learners experience provoked stress responses resulting from post-traumatic stress disorder. Learners who experience discrimination from their teachers and fellow students are more likely to have negative attitudes about school and lower academic motivation and performance, and are at increased risk of dropping out of high school.

 

3.1.2Inflexible curriculum. This is regarded as among the serious barriers to learning and development that can be found within the curriculum itself and relates primarily to the inflexible nature of the curriculum which prevents it from meeting diverse needs among learners. When learners are unable to access the curriculum, learning breakdown occurs.

 

3.1.3 Most learners in schools face a language barrier in the classroom. This is evident in that any child who cannot use the language which he/she is most familiar with because disadvantageous and unlikely to perform to the best of his/her ability. But it is not just being able to use an effective communication medium in the learning situation that is at stake. Thus, a learner’s self-confidence and sense of self in society are undermined if the home language cannot be used for learning, and these are further undermined by the experience of repeated underachievement. This disadvantage has cognitive, psychological, social and cultural aspects, all manifested in the ongoing failure of our education system.

 

3.1.4 Inaccessible and unsafe built environments. Inappropriate and inadequate support services for teachers and children. Inadequate policies and legislation within the education system. ... Inadequately and inappropriately trained teachers. For instance, A teacher who looks down on poor children, or who despises dirty children has an attitude towards the child, which makes the child feel bad about him or herself, and as a result not perform well in the classroom. In addition, the way the teacher teaches children can also be a barrier to their learning. A teacher who does not take an interest in his or her work, who does not prepare lessons properly, or who does not find or develop appropriate teaching materials, is also placing a barrier in the way of many children's learning in that class.