Inclusion of Students With Special Needs in Physical Education Lessons in the Central Region, Ghana

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.