Believe That All Can Achieve

Freedom, dignity and equality - the core values of the South African Constitution (1996) - provide the foundation for developing inclusive societies. "Inclusive education" is the term used to describe an education system in which all learners, including those with disabilities, are accepted and fully integrated not only educationally, but socially as well. Participation lies at the heart of inclusive education and cannot be restricted to one area of life. What is taught has to be reinforced in all the child's natural environments - the home, the school and the community. Believe that all can achieve explores how the incorporation of learning into real-life contexts forms the basis of meaningful education, and highlights the pivotal role of the teacher in this process. Believe that all can achieve pays specific attention to practical implementation. Photographs and line drawings are used to enhance understanding and application, and the narratives, case studies, screening checklists and examples of best practice in the home, the classroom and the community enable teachers to translate the theory into classroom practice.Believe that all can achieve looks at the child's participation patterns in terms of unique abilities, health status and environmental and personal factors, thus moving the focus from disability to ability; from the child in isolation to the child in the community; from the medical model of health care to the social model of health care. Believe that all can achieve is aimed at practising classroom-based teachers who want to improve their ability to support the increasingly diverse learners in their classrooms, schools and communities. Education students interested in special needs will also find this text particularly beneficial.