Abstract:
This research investigated the inclusion of students with special in physical
education lessons in the Central Region of Ghana of individuals with special
needs. For the analysis, the concurrent research design was implemented, with
both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Out of the 89 senior high schools
in the Central Region, 230 respondents from 63 senior high schools were
sampled purposively. Therefore, the sample consisted of 116 physical education
teachers and 114 students with disabilities were all purposively selected. Both
teachers and students were purposively sampled. The analysis for all five (5)
research questions were addressed using Chi square to determine the level of
significance of majority response. The study also employed the chi-square and
F-test techniques to test the hypotheses. The qualitative data from the
observation checklist was thematically analysed according to the objectives of
the study. The study revealed that majority of the physical education teachers
perceived inclusive education as a right to full participation. PE teachers
accepted that their knowledge was not enough to handle students with special
needs. Lack of equipment and other teaching-learning materials, as well as
teaching assistants, were some of the barriers that the study realised to be the
hindrances to inclusive PE. Again, gender was not a significant factor in
determining participation of the special needs in inclusive PE. There was no
significant difference among the PE teachers according to their teaching
experience. The study recommended that physical education teacher training at
the Bachelors level should be tailored to address inclusive teaching.
