Abstract:

South Africa is a second-generation adopter of inclusive education, and eagerly responded to the vision of inclusive education set out in the Salamanca Statement of 1994. Various policy and legislative initiatives call for inclusion, against the backdrop of systemic exclusion during apartheid and colonial years. The inclusion agenda runs in parallel to a curriculum reform agenda, concerned with addressing the poor learning outcomes that are also a legacy of racial discrimination.

In many schools in South Africa, the quality of education provision is measured by academic achievement, especially in the final Grade 12 national examination. These results often determine the school's status within the community and have become the markers of ‘excellence’. Competition between schools is fed by the media which reports on top-performing schools in different regions. Schools are under pressure not to be labelled as ‘underperforming’, with performance measured primarily by academic achievement. When schools and teachers are focused on academic outcomes as measured by standardised assessments, the inclusion of learners who may need additional support to meet these outcomes is often seen as an additional stressor.

In South African schools, principals and teachers must navigate the tensions and contradictions associated with an agenda for inclusion and an agenda for urgent improvement of academic achievement on standardised assessments (so-called excellence). These agendas co-exist but the motives that inform each agenda differ. At the microsystem level of the classroom, teachers must make pedagogical choices where these agendas appear to compete, and they have the power to enact micro-inclusions and micro-exclusions. At the macrosystem level, wider societal, economic, and policy considerations jostle to shape school activity and outcomes.

My research includes interviewing school principals from a diverse range of schools to understand how they navigate the tension between the inclusion and excellence agendas. These interviews explored firstly, what specific challenges leaders were facing when navigating both inclusion and excellence, secondly, what leadership strategies they were implementing, and finally what support they were providing to teachers. Findings show that in schools where high levels of educational attainment are already in place, there is a good basis for expanding the provision to be inclusive. Inclusion, it seems, is viewed as a ‘luxury’ that could be entertained. However, in school contexts of poor academic attainment, the drive is to respond to community and departmental pressures and rapidly improve standards and outcomes through the development of an academically competitive environment. When that imperative is prioritised in a system, it becomes difficult simultaneously to broaden provision for those who struggle to meet the standards.

Ideally, excellence wouldn't be judged on test scores, and inclusion would be an indicator of excellence. But in schools faced with challenges of poor academic performance and where schools are still struggling with children being in school but not learning, the pressure is on to prioritise improved outcomes, possibly at the expense of those who, for whatever reason, might compromise the school’s results. The pursuit of a fast-paced curriculum often does not promote learning for those who need more time or more support. Their needs can be neglected in the drive to improve overall outcomes.

Keywords:

Leadership, inclusion, excellence, exclusion.