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1.5.2. Conceptualisation of barriers to learning and development
According to the Department of Education (2001), the students that will be most vulnerable to
barriers to learning and exclusion within South Africa are those who have historically been termed
„learners with special needs‟ or, as it is understood, students with disabilities and impairments. The
barriers that will be discussed below can often prevent access to education or can limit
participation within a school. As defined earlier in this chapter, „Barriers to learning‟ are seen to
result from pervasive social conditions and attitudes, inappropriate education policies, unhelpful
family or school conditions and norms, or a classroom situation that does not match the learning
needs of a particular student (Booth, 1999; Engelbrecht et al., 1999). General negative attitudes
from educators, fellow students and the community can result in prejudice on the basis of race,
gender, class, culture, language, religion and disability (Lomofsky & Lazarus, 2001). These in turn
can result in barriers to learning when they have been directed at special education needs students
in an inclusive classroom (Lomofsky & Lazarus, 2001).
An important barrier to learning that needs to be considered is that of disability. Individuals who
are viewed as being disabled are seen as different from their peers and in need of medical
treatment, as stated in the description of the medical model (Hays, 2009; Engelbrecht et al., 2001).
The disabilities found in schools can include physical, neurological, psycho-neurological and
sensory impairment as well as moderate to mild learning difficulties involved in reading, writing,
maths, and speech and language problems (Lomofsky & Lazarus, 2001; Hays, 2009). A study
conducted in 1994 in private schools in Johannesburg found that educators only mentioned the
barriers to learning that were previously referred to as a disability (Schimper, 2004). These mainly
included more physical and mental abnormalities that are more noticeable in the community, for
example Down Syndrome and blindness. Inclusion, however, involves more aspects than just
disability, including cognitive barriers, emotional barriers, physical and environmental barriers as