Brundle, Claire Alison;
(2024)
Disability-inclusive education during COVID-19: An exploratory study into the experiences of teachers and occupational therapists in Uganda and England.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
Preview |
Text
Brundle_10196112_thesis.pdf Download (3MB) | Preview |
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted inequities in access to education for disabled children around the globe (UNESCO, 2020). With social-distancing and other public health guidelines in place for schools, learning changed, impacting further the provision of quality education for this marginalised group of pupils. I aimed to explore how the adults with the disabled child in the classroom describe and explain their practice during the pandemic, globally. I applied a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to explore the lived experience of teachers and occupational therapists who work in disability-inclusive education settings in Uganda and England. Multiple semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants from both countries. I aimed to capture their stories and understand how they make sense of their practice. Through a reflexive stance, I examined my positionality throughout the research process to present a clear and logical justification of my interpretation. Four themes in understanding are identified. During COVID-19, i. ‘It was easier to see.’ The Disabled Child Became Visible. ii. ‘Schools are a good place to start.’ The Intersubjective Relationship of Learning Surfaced. iii. ‘What's happening at home?’ The Place of School and Community Blurred. iv. ‘I stand in the gap’ The Gap Between Policy and Practice Revealed the Void. Coming to this understanding, I began to see the phenomenon anew. The pandemic shone a spotlight on the current practice and that which was hidden. The participants shared their experience, and in the process of completing this research, my understanding transformed. It is from this new perspective that the narrative on disability-inclusive education may change.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Disability-inclusive education during COVID-19: An exploratory study into the experiences of teachers and occupational therapists in Uganda and England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10196112 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
