Exploring Inclusive Education Practices in Grenada: An Ethnographic Study of District and School Management Teams

• In Event: Transforming the Future of Educational Research: RISE Caribbean

Abstract

Internationally, legally binding instruments and non-binding declarations, led especially by the United Nations (UN) and other regional organizations, have set the framework for achieving inclusion in education. Presently, 95% of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have regulations, under their Ministries of Education, that promote the inclusion in education of persons with disabilities (The Gem Report, 2020). In 2014, Grenada ratified the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities demonstrating a commitment to inclusive education (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR report, 2020). Consequently, this country has attempted to include students identified with Special Educational Needs (SEN) within general education classrooms. The approaches to addressing inclusion globally, though laudable, often focus on the signing of laws, the development of policies, and the implementation of policy. However, in contexts such as Grenada within the Caribbean, the there are no clear guidelines for implementation, resulting in policy that is not effectively translated into practice (Blackman, Conrad, & Brown, 2019). Although many studies have investigated inclusion efforts in the Caribbean region, very few have attempted a grounded, holistic view at what is happening on site, where inclusion is being enhanced. Such a view can allow for a focus on implementation rules and regulations that lay down specific interventions and solutions directed toward previously identified priority improvement areas. Grounded inquiry from the site of implementation can assist in improving governance and access to quality education for all learners. Grenada has been identified as having the largest service gap between children with and without disabilities in the mainstream education system in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in fact, students with disabilities in Grenada are 16 times less likely to access quality education than their Caribbean counterparts (ECLAC, 2017). Through an ethnographic exploration of one educational district in Grenada, undertaken as part of an international research-practice partnership (Weinstein & Worrell, 2016), this study draws from the theories of social justice leadership (Furman (2012) and Critical Pedagogy (Freire 2020), to explore how District and School Management Teams accept, interpret, and enact inclusive education in public primary schools in Grenada. Specifically, qualitative data is collected through interviews, observation, document analysis and work diaries over a period of 12 to 15 weeks. This study is significant as it may be the only research of that nature being conducted in the context of Grenada and among district and school management teams. The study contributes to the knowledge base of available literature on district supervision teams’ and school management teams’ role in the implementation of inclusive education. It will likely be of great value for the policy implementation process in the Caribbean and beyond, as it can provide an objective and in-depth insight directly from the field and a “close to context” reflection of how policy is being understood, interpreted, and enacted by administrators. Finally, results emanating from this study can suggest guidelines to policymakers and educational planners to develop and/or improve the implementation of Inclusive Education in their own locales.

Authors

• Judy-Ann A. Auld, University of the West Indies - Cave Hill
  Presenting Author

• James R. King, University of South Florida
  Presenting Author