AN INVESTIGATION ON HOW TEACHERS ATTEMPT TO ASSIST LEARNERS WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVE DISORDER IN AN INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM: A CASE OF A PRIMARY SCHOOL IN BLANTYRE URBAN

Abstract

There has been a concern that some learners with attention deficit hyperactive disorder struggle to learn and achieve their educational goals during their time in school for over some years (Ministry of Education, 2008). This study aimed at investigating how teachers attempt to assist learners with attention deficit hyperactive disorder in one of the primary schools within South West Division in Blantyre City. Purposive sampling was employed to select the school and participants for the study. The study used qualitative approach to address the issue at hand. Qualitative data was generated using observations and interviews. Maxwell (2013) process of analysing data was used. Findings indicate that teachers use methods of teaching such as think pair-share, think-ink-pair-share and work station as ways of assisting learners with attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Findings have further shown that teachers manage learners with attention deficit hyper active disorder by assigning them with responsibilities, giving them some motivation as teaching and learning progresses, reinforcing the learners, administering simple punishments, offering guidance and counselling sessions and using songs and chants, which teachers‟ use in an inclusive setting. One major implication is that most teachers at the school and around, have not been trained on special needs education hence there is need to train teachers in Special Needs Education for them to adequately and effectively assist learners with ADHD. Teachers will be able to assist learners in an inclusive setting through the use of child friendly methods such as: think-pair-share strategy; work station and think- ink-pair.