Inclusive Education In Folk Development Colleges In Tanzania: Stakeholders’ Beliefs And Practices

ABSTRACT

The dissertation reports the findings of stakeholders’ beliefs and practices about Inclusive Education in Folk Development Colleges in Tanzania. Specifically, the study sought to find out stakeholders views on the practice of Inclusive Education in FDCs, examine stakeholder’s perceptions on inclusive classroom in FDCs and also explore the challenges faced by stakeholders in the whole process of teaching and learning in an inclusive classroom in FDCs in Tanzania. Using the Jack Mezirows Theory, the dissertation draws on the qualitative data that were collected from three FDCs located in Coast and Dar es Salaam regions.

Under the guidance of the phenomenological research design, data were collected through interviews, observations, focus group discussions, with 33 informants who were sampled using both purposive sampling and systematic random sampling techniques, and then triangulated with documentary reviews. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data. The informants of the study were college principals, tutors, and students all from the Focal Development Colleges, namely Kisarawe, Ikwiriri, and Arnatouglu Folk Development Colleges, located in Kisarawe District in Coast and Dar es Salaam regions of Tanzania. The qualitative analysis of the data obtained revealed that Folk Development Colleges in Tanzania embrace Inclusive Education by enrolling learners with different educational backgrounds. However, a lot goes unnoticed about FDCs and their roles because of limited information about their functions in the country resulting from limited dissemination of information about them. The stakeholders’ argued that Folk Development Colleges practice Inclusive Education as per the guideline issued by the Ministry to accommodate all youths and guide them to acquire skills for their development and ability to solve their day to day challenges. The challenges facing stakeholders in the Folk Development Colleges are learners’ inability to comprehend because of their educational background while the tutors are not trained to handle learners with poor educational backgrounds. It is, therefore, recommended that tutors' capacity to understand the behaviours and ability to teach them according to their behaviour should be developed through on job training as well as through employing new tutors with sufficient profession to handle such learners.