How preparations for streaming affect the educational experience of children with down's syndrome in year 4 primary classrooms

Abstract

Educators often comment about the way children with learning difficulties face greater problems with inclusion in year 4 primary. This might be related to the situation faced by the year 4 teacher, who has to prepare his/her children for the annual year exams for possible placement in the year 5 upper streams. The aim of the study was to investigate how the teacher's preoccupation with streaming impacted on the experience of children with Down's syndrome in year 4 primary. A qualitative case study was undertaken. The participants consisted of five children with Down's syndrome in year 4 primary classrooms, three of whom were in schools geared for streaming, and two in schools which did not have streaming. Data consisted of structured and unstructured observations on each child during two full days. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teacher, facilitator and parents of each child. Observations and interview transcripts were thematically analysed. The results showed that the two children in non-streamed schools were much more included in the whole curriculum, and that in streamed schools the teachers felt great pressure to cover the examination syllabi at the expense of less inclusive experiences in the classroom. However, it was also found that in one of the schools, which adopted streaming, the teacher had an inclusive philosophy. It is recommended that in order to promote inclusion, there should be both a change in attitudes of educators in streamed schools as well as an in-service training of teachers in inclusive practices.