Botswana teachers: competencies perceived as important for inclusive education

Abstract

The implementation of inclusive education continues to pose challenges to teachers world-wide and Botswana is no exception. This study aimed to explore the teaching competencies general education teachers in Botswana primary schools perceived as important to their teaching in inclusive classrooms. Using a quantitative research approach, 116 general education primary school teachers completed a 14-Item questionnaire titled Perceived Competencies for Inclusive Teaching Scale, and an open-ended question about the supportive resources they required to be effective in their classrooms. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA and t-tests were used to analyse the data. The results of this study showed that participants identified adaptive instructional competencies (including setting curricula goals, modifying learning content and teaching to the different learning styles of students) as most important. Human resources (teacher aides, specialist teachers,) followed by material resources were seen to be key support resources required for them to be able to implement IE. This study could be used as a baseline for future research on key competencies and resources for primary school teachers for inclusive education.