Experiences and Perceptions of Special School Personnel Regarding Inclusive Education: A Qualitative Study

The present study explored the experiences and perceptions of psychologists with regards to the benefits of inclusive education for special needs children. The phenomenological approach was used, and data was collected from four psychologists in the form of semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. The following themes emerged in favor of inclusive education: (i) Providing Support to Special Need Students; (ii) Requiring Qualifications and Experienced Teachers; (iii) Offering Training to School Staff; (iv) Identifying Barriers that Interfere with Inclusion: Stigma and Integration; and (v) The Positive Effects of Inclusive Education: Empathy, Social Skills, and Academic Achievement. The importance of training teachers and staff in inclusive education was also highlighted. The present study indicates that awareness programs are required to remove the social stigma against children with special needs in advancing inclusive education in Pakistan.

Facilitating Teachers to Enquiry in Social Studies Classrooms

The aim of Social Studies education is to develop democratic citizens. The current teaching and learning practices in Social Studies classrooms in Pakistani schools are not meeting the aims of Social Studies education due to the transmission mode of teaching. Consequently, it has failed to develop the necessary knowledge, skills and disposition which are prerequisitse for democratic citizenship. The reasons for this state of Social Studies education are: firstly, teachers lack of knowledge about effective approaches of teaching and learning this subject; a and secondly, in the case of teachers' knowledge, use does not fully materialize in the classroom, as in spite of their exposure to the theory, they have little support in converting it into effective practice. This action research project was conducted with two Social Studies teachers teaching the said subject in a private English medium secondary school. The major purpose of this study was to enhance my own understanding and practices of the process of facilitating teachers to use the enquiry strategy in their classrooms, with the aim to develop teachers' knowledge, skills and attitudes, so that the objective of teaching and learning Social Studies could be realized. In the process of facilitating teachers to use the enquiry strategy at their workplace, I employed coaching with the view that it can be an effective strategy, particularly in facilitating experienced teachers' learning. I first introduced the teachers to the theory and process of enquiry strategy by conducting a session on enquiry with them. In the light of the reflections on the session, I further engaged the teachers in joint planning to prepare them to use the enquiry approach. However, I realized that one teacher was dominating the sessions; and furthermore, their needs and realities were distinct. Therefore, from then onwards, I facilitated the teachers individually by engaging each one separately in preparing lessons and supporting them in actualizing the plans. Moreover, I demonstrated to them certain stages and activities, whenever I found the teachers perplexed and confused. Teaching was followed by engaging the teachers in post-lesson discussions, during which I encouraged them to reflect on the process, issues, and critical incidents of the instruction and provided them constructive feedback for further improvement. The study found that the teachers' learning could be enhanced at their workplace by engaging them in planning, asking critical questions, challenging their assumptions and beliefs, supporting them in the real classrooms through demonstration/ modeling, where