Grassroots community-based inclusive education. Exploring educational prospects for young people with disabilities in the post-conflict Rwandan communities.

摘要

Summary The journey through the study on ‘Grassroots community-based inclusive e ducation’ and its outcomes has been considerably shaped by the field. Th e earlier ‘déjà-vu’ attitudes about the Rwandan society and its socio-cu ltural context that the researcher had always been part of, was sensitiv ely changed through the exposure to a number of interventions in the fie ld and experiences within the communities surveyed. It is along this jou rney that new outlooks on the communities of the disabled Rwandan childr en in general, and on approaches required to meet their educational chal lenges and needs in particular, kept emerging. Our stance now, is in lin e with the search for innovative educational approaches that are able to alter the traditional strategies and deliver more access to inclusive l earning opportunities for disabled children, in the face of a wide range of challenges. The case studies highlighting achievements in circumstances that are app roximately similar to those in Rwanda have been deliberately discussed, presenting a wide spectrum of approaches and strategies, ranging from mi cro to macro frameworks of interventions. We learn from these that to be effective, the approaches of a program that is promoting inclusive educ ation of disabled children need to be both flexible and widely encompass ing. For example, some of the emerging lessons on ways to include disabl ed children through community-based programs are likely to involve: Enlisting and enhancing the community members’ support, beginning with t he most effectively involved family and community members, by empowering them with the means to understand better the needs of their disabled ch ildren. Developing an enabling environment in which disability concerns would be mainstreamed into development frameworks. To ensure sustainability, it is also important that an organisational su pport framework comprising of the local government, civil society organi sations and the private sector or NGOs, as well as disabled people thems elves, be developed. All the stakeholders in the inclusion program should be equipped in term s of relevant awareness, capacities and resources. The inclusion project for disabled children can be accomplished in situa tions of extreme poverty of the Rwandan communities if a ‘vulnerability perspective’ is integrated in all aspects of community-based develo pment programs. Hence, disability issues much like gender being socially cross-cutting, ought to be incorporated in all stages of the project (d esign and appraisal, implementation, reviews, monitoring and evaluation) . Finally, owing to historical, systemic and physical barriers, disabled c hildren, especially the severely disabled, can only be part of the inclu sion process if they are considered within the mainstream education refo rm process. In this way, the inclusion processes will be empowered with provisions, not only to cater for educational needs, but also involving a safety net system that ensures sustainable education within the wider spectrum of other needs. In other words, the study does not recommend any defined model of inclus ive education program for the Rwandan children with disabilities; rather , through highlighted cases and discussed experiences, it proposes a num ber of considerations and principles for both practitioners and policy m akers. The emerging position thus, suggests a dialogue between the communities (or beneficiaries) and various actors contributing to inclusive activiti es. Engagement into a dialogue entails both the community and practition ers taking a position where they are able to evaluate each other’s chall enges and inputs to inclusive initiatives, and a constructive feedback f rom either side be shared. By privileging a dialogue therefore, the comm unity-based inclusion undertaking would allow support from both experts and local community, whose initiatives would be assured. It is under suc h conversations that despite the numerous economic and social limitation s and challenges in the remote Karamoja in Uganda and Douenza in Mali (i n case study 3), the local people, respective governments and NGOs were able to develop successful educational projects with inclusion perspecti ve. The people’s inputs included the promotion of their cultural values, fostering their nomadic way of life, and when these were adopted in the curriculum, they felt part of the educational project to which they owe d the obligation of support, thus, the engagement in a dialogue with sup portive NGOs and the Government became part of the initiative. In this w ay, the level of functional literacy and numeracy was raised considerabl y, social and basic technological skills found their place in the local curriculum, and appropriate ways of including the most marginalised grou ps such as girls and disabled children were proposed and developed with the support and means of the local communities. Our understanding from this study is that every human society is endowed with inherent potential and power to support its own disadvantaged peop le. These powers are identifiable within the cultural way of life at eve ry grassroots community level. Thus, the study suggests that an inclusiv e education model building on such potentials is the most sustainable be cause it draws from the local means and know-how, and is able to underst and more accurately the needs of the community. It is on such notions th at Fugayerollas’ (2000) model of intervention (In Fig. 20 & 21), an d proven experiences in remote African villages shared by Ingstad (1997) , Vanneste (1997) and Stubbs (2002), jointly suggest a revisit to potent ials available within families and local communities of disabled childre n, because they are inherently endowed with cultural mechanisms with whi ch disadvantaged groups find support. The idea being emphasised does not rule out the existence of limitations, rather, it warns that poverty an d politically motivated challenges are enormous, and these cannot be ove rcome without mobilising enhancing and enlisting the support of those wh o have the first hand experience. We have pointed out for example hat the government commitment is practic ally unknown at the Rwandan grassroots community levels (See Fig. 17). B ecause of this phenomenon, we expressed scepticism about the possible su ccess of the national policy on Inclusive Education and Special Needs Ed ucation (SNE/IE), scheduled for this September 2006. We argued that the fact that for such an important policy to appear 17 years after the Chil d’s Right’s declaration, 16 years after the Jomtien declarations on Univ ersal Primary Education, and 12 years after the Salamanca statement on i nclusion, are all testimonies of a culture of procrastination of fundame ntal issues in Rwanda. Therefore, given this cultural trend, and the poo r channel of communication available among Rwandans as demonstrated by t he study, there are no evidences that the due inclusion policy will be c orrectly translated and quickly transmitted to the grassroots communitie s. In a way, we underlined the wide gap between the policy making level (organs) and the grassroots community level on issues related to disabil ity and inclusion, or an urgent need for putting in place an effective i mplementation program able to mediate between the two levels, capable of drawing and maintaining support from both. In the study, we also stressed policy frameworks and programs that are s upportive of inclusive education of disabled children in the neighbourho od schools. The central point however is not about what works best, but rather, about what is socially and functionally capable of generating op portunities, or what imposes barriers and therefore how can the former b e useful in counteracting the latter in order to achieve the best possib le access (or inclusion) for the disabled children in their neighbourhoo d school. It has been proposed in the emerging inclusion model in sectio n 11.1 above for example, that rehabilitation centres and schools in the same communities should be able to open doors to each other, in order t o foster an integrated education system that is supportive of both the d isabled and the non-disabled children in the same setting. However, we a rgue that the success of such a setting is also dependent on the extent to which both the people in the community and the means available to the m are mobilised for the cause. In Rwanda, it may mean how religious orga nisations are supportive and coordinated for example, how the local lead ers and educators are able to understand and support the educational nee ds of the children with disabilities, how peer groups are enabled to fun ction with disabled youths in mutual support of each other. We have thus stressed and demonstrated that for ideas about inclusion to gain a foothold within the Rwandan grassroots communities, sensitisatio n is very crucial. We suggested an approach that responds to questions s uch as, who needs to be sensitised about inclusion most? Who can most effectively alter the community’s negative ways and imp art the positive thinking? How can the community be reached b est? The guiding principle is the need for transmission of adequate a wareness about disabilities and inclusion, and reaching as many people a s possible. Accounts on the plausible techniques to reach and change the dominant attitudes in the communities were apparent in a number of prev ious instances discussed above: § When the influential o ld lady who was popular in the community for her skills in local medicin e changed her attitude about disability for example, the results sent ph enomenal sensitising messages to the whole community, and the local peop le drastically changed from negative perceptions to total support of the social worker’s proposal of appropriate services. The latter’s work in sensitisation was made easier (In the extract in section 7.2.4). § In the same way, the c riteria set (in the study) for the selection of the informants among the social workers, are also examples of channels to be used for sensitisat ion. They stressed selecting those who are most effective and capable of reaching, understanding and changing the community (In the roles of Inn oc & Mama ARU in section 6.1.1). Being religious for example (In se ctions 7.1-7.3), being disabled or being an aware mother of a disabled c hild were some of the determinant factors on which criteria to chose eff ective informants or social workers were based, because these were also means by which the community was reached and understood. § The link between disab ility and some dominant religious beliefs in some communities were also found to be influential factors in determining what decisions are taken for disabled children by parents (In section 7.2 & Fig. 12). This p henomenon suggests that sensitisation programs can also be effective if they are integrated within the local religious practices and programs (I n the role of ISAK’s clergy father in section 7.1). These and a few other examples in the study, all emphasise the idea that the problem of perception about disability is fundamental and unique in Rwanda, depending on the circumstances and communities, and if the issu e of inclusion of the disabled children has to be successful, then an ap propriately fitting method of sensitisation has to be devised. It was admitted however, that all the theories and claims discussed abov e, do not necessarily present the precise scale of the problems that the children with disabilities face, nor any feasible response to their nee ds, rather, it emphasises the process and procedures that might guide in clusive action within the limits and means of the Rwandan society. In ot her words, it will be understood that this study reflects strongly on th e normative research paradigm, representing an investigative journey thr ough complexities of the Rwandan communities in search of pointers to in clusive phenomena. In a way, we concur with Cohen et al.’s (2003: 22) vi ew that human behaviours in any society are often associated with normat ive paradigms because they are rule governed, thus, research approaches used in the study were devised in response to the rules that govern the Rwandan society as affirmed by Cohen et al.(2003): “… normative researchers try to devise general theory of human behaviour and to validate them through the use of increasingly complex r esearch methodologies …To them, the basic reality is the collectivity; i t is external to the actor and manifest in society, its institutions and its organisations…the researcher’s ultimate aim is to establish a compr ehensive ‘rational edifice’, a universal theory, to account for human an d social behaviour” (p. 23). It will thus be understood that our study approach has underlined the co mplex problems that surround a substantial number of children who are ex cluded from the mainstream Rwandan education and consequently from meani ngful participation in the economic, social, political and cultural life of their society, pointing to feasible paths to explore towards their i nclusion. We share the argument apparent in the Dakar World Education Fo rum of April 2000 in its paragraph 19, that the need to address the vuln erabilities of learners who are marginalised and excluded from education al opportunities is urgent (UNESCO, 2000), and it asserts that: “… In order to attract and retain children from marginalized and excluded groups, education systems should respond flexibly… must be inc lusive, actively seeking out children who are not enrolled, and respondi ng flexibly to the circumstances and needs of all learners …” (U NESCO World Education Forum on Education For All, Para. 33). The idea raised by the extract also calls for studies that are tailored to different environments and situations. However, we recognise that thi s study has not been able to address the many specific issues related to inclusive developments in Rwandan education. In fact it was established by the present study that the understanding of children’s disabilities and related issues are a function of social, cultural and economic facto rs, and therefore the study does not address many of these. We are aware that an educated mother is likely to be conversant with primary health care (including awareness about disabilities and reproductive health) fo r example, while non-educated mothers are more likely to be influenced b y the traditionally established perceptions about disability. In other w ords, the assumption that the parents’ level of education has a role to play in influencing the kind of services chosen for their disabled child ren is also founded, and demands to be investigated further (See Appendi x B & table 7). Likewise, issues related to specific methods and ad apted materials were not looked into. We thus suggest that future studie s will have to take care of some of these and the influences they have o n disabled children’s lives and their subsequent inclusion into the neig hbourhood schools. Our position in this study thus, is in line with the view that 'inc lusive education' is a transverse issue which regards all marginalised g roups of learners, and in the Rwandan situation, it cuts across all educ ation programs, ranging from early childhood education to adult educatio n, teacher education and curriculum development, as well as in spheres r elated to culture and social development.