TY - JOUR
T1 - Supporting reasonable adjustments for learners with disabilities in physical education
T2 - An investigation into teacher’s perceptions of one online tool
AU - Walsh, Barbara
AU - Dinning, Track
AU - Money, Julie
AU - Maher, Anthony
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - This study sets out to investigate physical education (PE) teachers’ perceptions of the use of an online professional development resource to support making reasonable adjustment for learners with disability. The Equality Act (2010) called on all UK schools to ensure access to PE was equitable for all learners. This means schools have to adopt strategies for making reasonable adjustments so as not to disadvantage learners with any special educational need and disability. Teachers report that they are working towards an inclusive classroom; however, parents of learners with disabilities report that there remains a lack of opportunities for their children to engage with activity. Using purposive sampling, participants were selected for the study after which they were asked to complete a continuing professional development online training course on the subject of making reasonable adjustments for learning with disabilities. Through one-to-one interviews, qualitative data were collected and analysed through thematic analysis. The findings indicated that the online resource was greeted positively by staff and not only supported the PE teachers but also increased their awareness of different approaches to making reasonable adjustments. The findings also indicated that the issue of making reasonable adjustments and the use of the online development tool need to be driven from the school senior leadership team if it is to have value for the whole school community.
AB - This study sets out to investigate physical education (PE) teachers’ perceptions of the use of an online professional development resource to support making reasonable adjustment for learners with disability. The Equality Act (2010) called on all UK schools to ensure access to PE was equitable for all learners. This means schools have to adopt strategies for making reasonable adjustments so as not to disadvantage learners with any special educational need and disability. Teachers report that they are working towards an inclusive classroom; however, parents of learners with disabilities report that there remains a lack of opportunities for their children to engage with activity. Using purposive sampling, participants were selected for the study after which they were asked to complete a continuing professional development online training course on the subject of making reasonable adjustments for learning with disabilities. Through one-to-one interviews, qualitative data were collected and analysed through thematic analysis. The findings indicated that the online resource was greeted positively by staff and not only supported the PE teachers but also increased their awareness of different approaches to making reasonable adjustments. The findings also indicated that the issue of making reasonable adjustments and the use of the online development tool need to be driven from the school senior leadership team if it is to have value for the whole school community.
KW - learners with disability
KW - professional development
KW - reasonable adjustments
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85060913289&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85060913289&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/2331186X.2018.1525828
DO - 10.1080/2331186X.2018.1525828
M3 - Article (journal)
AN - SCOPUS:85060913289
SN - 2331-186x
VL - 5
SP - 1
EP - 11
JO - Cogent Education
JF - Cogent Education
IS - 1
ER -