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International Journal of Disability,

Development and Education
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Including Learners with Intellectual

Disabilities: stressful for teachers?
a a b
Petra Engelbrecht , Marietjie Oswald , Estelle Swart & Irma
c
Eloff
a
Faculty of Education, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1,
Matieland 7602, South Africa
b
Faculty of Education, Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa
c
Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Published online: 03 Jun 2010.

To cite this article: Petra Engelbrecht , Marietjie Oswald , Estelle Swart & Irma Eloff (2003)
Including Learners with Intellectual Disabilities: stressful for teachers?, International Journal of
Disability, Development and Education, 50:3, 293-308, DOI: 10.1080/1034912032000120462

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 International Journal of Disability, Development and Education
Vol. 50, No. 3, September 2003

Including Learners with Intellectual

Disabilities: stressful for teachers?
PETRA ENGELBRECHT* & MARIETJIE OSWALD**
Faculty of Education, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602,
South Africa

ESTELLE SWART
Faculty of Education, Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa
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IRMA ELOFF
Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria, South Africa

ABSTRACT Since 1994 the demand to educate learners with special needs within main-
stream classrooms in South Africa has continued to grow and the implementation of
inclusive education is in the final process of legislation. The result has been that an
increasing number of learners with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, are being
included in mainstream classrooms. International research indicates that it is especially the
acceptance of learners with intellectual disabilities that seems to raise the most sensitive
issues for teachers within inclusive classrooms. This research study was designed to
investigate the stressors related to the specific situation of including a learner with an
intellectual disability in mainstream classrooms and the subsequent stress levels of teachers
in the Gauteng and Western Cape provinces of South Africa. The design and methodology
of this study was a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Fifty-five teachers
were purposefully selected to complete a questionnaire focusing on the effect of potential
stressors on teachers when including a learner with an intellectual disability. In-depth
structured interviews were conducted with 10 of these teachers. This project is highly
significant as policies of inclusion rely on teachers’ acceptance of them, belief in their worth,
and ability to cope. An understanding of the conditions that are likely to cause teachers most
stress during inclusion will allow for more appropriate teacher training and for more focused
support to teachers in inclusive classrooms.

Introduction
Teaching is not a simple, straightforward enterprise, but ranks in the top quartile on
complexity for all occupations and this inherent complexity makes it a demanding

* peng@sun.ac.za
** mmoswald@sun.ac.za

ISSN 1034-912X (print)/ISSN 1465-346X (online)/03/030293-16  2003 Taylor & Francis Ltd
DOI: 10.1080/1034912032000120462
 294 P. Engelbrecht et al.

profession to master (Snowman & Biehler, 2000). In light of this, it is not unexpec-
ted that, although occupational stress is a problem in all human professions,
research confirms that teaching has become one of the high stress professions in
recent years (Brown & Ralph, 1998; Cecil & Forman, 1990; Kyriacou, 1998; Male
& May, 1997). What makes occupational stress for teachers especially significant is
that it may not only affect teachers, but may have a negative impact on their learners
and the teaching profession as well (Rigby, Bennett, & Boshoff, 1996). It is therefore
important to identify and understand the stressors in teachers’ professional lives.
Teacher stress is an interactionist concept that can be described as a complex
process involving an interaction between the teacher and the environment that
includes a stressor(s) and a response (Aldwin, 1994). Kyriacou (1998) defines
teacher stress as “the experience by a teacher of unpleasant emotions such as
tension, frustration, anxiety, anger and depression, resulting from his or her work as
a teacher” (p. 4). A stressor can be defined as a “stress-inducing factor acting on the
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individual person and emanating from the self or the environment, to which a
positive or negative meaning is ascribed by the person, and which he or she
experiences as a threat or a challenge” (Kruger, 1992 cited in Bester & Swanepoel,
2000, p. 255). Task demands and responsibilities that teachers face in the perform-
ance of their professional roles can thus be envisaged as potential stressors. When
defining and researching teacher stress, the importance of teachers’ perceptions of
potential stressors in the work environment, as well as their appraisal of their ability
to cope with the situation, should be emphasised (Aldwin, 1994).
The literature on teacher stress has yielded a substantial amount of data on
sources of teacher stress (Abel & Sewell, 1999; Kyriacou, 1998; Male & May, 1997;
Pithers & Soden, 1998). These sources of stress can be grouped into four major
categories: (a) difficulties with learners (motivation and control of learners, poor
learner attitudes, learner recalcitrance); (b) time pressure; (c) poor ethos due to poor
staff relations (conflict and ineffective communication); and (d) poor working
conditions (heavy work load, large classes, additional administrative responsibilities,
lack of support and encouragement, financial constraints, lack of educational sup-
plies).
Teachers in South Africa are exposed to a wide variety of multi-dimensional
stressors within the work situation. Inadequate working conditions, learner prob-
lems, time pressures, little participation in decision-making and distribution of tasks,
as well as inadequate salaries, a disregard for the professional status of teachers, and
issues of teacher morale are all potential stressors for South African teachers (Van
Zyl & Pietersen, 1999). It is especially the frequency, intensity, and duration of
perceived stress that cause havoc and lead to teachers leaving the profession (Gold
& Roth, 1993; Wisniewski & Gargiulo, 1997).
Organisational and structural changes have also been cited as a major source of
stress for teachers (Brown & Ralph, 1998; Kyriacou, 1998; Male & May, 1997). If
this is so, then it could be the case that South African teachers may be subject to
heightened levels of stress. For teachers in South Africa, changes in all sectors of the
education system have been fundamental, turbulent, and rapid. This resulted from
a process of transformation of the education system. Since 1994 the new South
 Including Learners 295

African government has been committed to transforming educational policy, includ-

ing the development of a single inclusive education system, to address “the notion
of a democratic society based on human dignity, freedom and equality” as en-
trenched in the Constitution (Williams, 2000). It is seldom that an education system
has had to absorb so many changes as is currently the case in South Africa (Graaff
& Parker, 1997).
Since 1994, the demand to educate learners with special needs within mainstream
classrooms in South Africa has continued to grow, and the implementation of
inclusive education is in the final process of legislation. The result has been that an
increasing number of learners with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, are
being included in mainstream classes, bringing additional changes and demands
upon teachers. The perceived needs of the teachers who are required to accommo-
date a diversity of learner needs in mainstream classrooms have to be addressed.
Failure to address these needs and concerns may result in problems related to
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implementation, including high levels of stress. Teachers are important informants

about the resources and support that are necessary to prevent or ameliorate stress in
the inclusive educational environment. Further, it may be assumed that the develop-
ment of inclusive educational practices will be less stressful if there are minimal
discrepancies between teachers’ perceptions of the availability of those resources and
support and their perceived needs for those resources and support. Engelbrecht,
Forlin, Eloff, and Swart (2001) stated that in the past it has been the inadequate
resources provided to mainstream education that have been the cause of stress for
teachers interested in helping learners with special needs.
Studies of teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education have suggested that
attitudes are strongly influenced by the nature of learners’ disabilities and that
teachers are positive about including those learners whose disabling characteristics
do not require extra instructional or management skills on the part of the teacher
(Avramidis, Bayliss, & Burden, 2000; Soodak, Podell, & Lehman, 1998). Research
data further indicate that, apart from learners with behavioural or emotional
difficulties, it is especially the acceptance of learners with intellectual disabilities that
seems to raise the most sensitive issues for teachers and provokes the most disagree-
ment about the wisdom of inclusive education (Avramidis et al., 2000; Scruggs &
Mastropieri, 1996; Soodak et al., 1998; Wilczenski, 1993; Winzer, 1998). Soodak et
al. found that teachers have negative views regarding the inclusion of learners with
intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities and behaviour disorders, and that
learners with intellectual disabilities evoke feelings of anxiety as well.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this research was to focus on the stressors experienced by teachers
related to the specific situation of including learners with intellectual disabilities in
South African mainstream classes and to investigate the relationship between stress
and six independent variables, namely age, gender, total number of years teaching,
highest qualification held, number of learners in the class, and numbers of years
involved with inclusive education.
 296 P. Engelbrecht et al.

Learners with intellectual disabilities may demonstrate difficulties with learning

new skills, communication, storing and retrieving information (memory), and trans-
ferring knowledge to new situations. Memory, especially short-term memory, is
often impaired and some learners may also experience problems with long-term
memory (Smith, 1998). In contrast with severe and profound intellectual disabilities
that are generally identified very early by physical characteristics and obvious
developmental delays, moderate intellectual disability is generally identified no later
than the preschool years whereas mild disability may only become apparent at the
onset of formal learning (Lomofsky & Skuy, 2001). It is important to be aware that
by far the most likely reason for poor progress in Grade 1 in South African
classrooms is environmental deprivation rather than organic disability. However the
two may interact, so that a mild organic condition, exacerbated by underdeveloped
cognitive processes, becomes a barrier to learning (Lomofsky & Skuy).
Due to the transformation of educational policy and practice in South Africa,
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teachers now more frequently encounter learners with intellectual disabilities in their
mainstream classrooms. As the particular nature of the learning needs of these
learners may place additional demands on teachers in mainstream classrooms, this
research study, aiming to determine the stress levels of teachers currently including
learners with intellectual disabilities, is timely and necessary to inform more appro-
priate training and support for teachers in inclusive classrooms.

Method
Design
In this study a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was employed.
The study was conducted in two phases. During phase one, 55 teachers completed
a structured questionnaire on stress and coping. During phase two, individual
interviews were conducted with 10 of the 55 teachers who participated in phase one
of the study. During the interview, the questionnaire served as an interview sched-
ule. The qualitative phase of the study was deemed important to gain a more
in-depth understanding of teachers’ perceptions of the stressors within an inclusive
classroom. The interviews were structured with the completed questionnaire form-
ing the basis of the discussion.

Participants
Teachers from two provinces (Gauteng and Western Cape) in South Africa partici-
pated in this study. The respective education departments were contacted for data
on teachers who were currently including learners with intellectual disabilities in a
mainstream classroom. As the implementation of inclusive education is only now in
the final process of legislation, it was difficult to identify an adequate number of
participants for this research study. Care was, however, taken to purposefully select
teachers who were (a) including a learner with a mild to moderate intellectual
disability in their mainstream classes, and (b) from a range of schools representative
 Including Learners 297

of the whole spectrum of schools in South Africa (i.e., from highly resourced schools
to schools from traditionally disadvantaged communities).
An analysis of the biographical data revealed that teachers in the study taught
across all grades. Their ages ranged from 26 to more than 55 years, with the majority
between the ages of 26 and 45 years. The participants included 52 women and three
men and their teaching experience ranged from one to 36 years. Approximately 67%
of the participating teachers were highly experienced and had been teaching for at
least 10 years. The language of instruction used by the teachers was English or
Afrikaans. The number of years teaching experience with learners with any disability
in their mainstream classes ranged between zero and 36 years. Fifteen of the
participants indicated that they had between zero and four years experience with
learners with disabilities in their mainstream classes. In terms of qualifications, most
(41) of the participants had completed a teacher’s diploma, six had completed a
bachelor’s degree along with a teacher’s diploma, one had completed a bachelor’s
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degree, and one had completed a master’s degree.

The number of learners in the various classes ranged from 24 to 72. The number
of learners in the schools ranged between 300 and 1,500. The ages of the 55 learners
with intellectual disabilities included by the teachers were between 6 and 23 years.
Thirty-four of this group were male and 21 were female. The categorisation of
learners as having an intellectual disability was based on their low level of cognitive
functioning as previously determined by psychometric evaluation (where still in use)
or on grounds of repeated failure at school. The learners’ intellectual disabilities
could be classified as mild to moderate. The majority of learners had to repeat
grades presenting a further complicated scenario of over-aged learners.

Questionnaire
The Teacher Stress and Coping Questionnaire (TSC), as developed by Forlin
(1998), relates specifically to stress and coping in inclusive education. It was
compiled based on the data obtained from focus group interviews with mainstream
primary class teachers and principals from 13 schools within one region in Queens-
land and has since been used and evaluated in research conducted in Australia, as
well as in South Africa (Engelbrecht, Swart, & Eloff, 2001; Forlin, 2001).
The TSC contains four parts. Part A requests biographical information of teach-
ers that focuses on gender, age, experience, location, and training. Part B considers
the class structure and is used to rate the potential difficulties of the class based on
the number of learners with special educational needs in the classroom. Part C lists
potential stressors for mainstream class teachers who are including a learner with an
intellectual disability. Part D of the questionnaire examines the usefulness of
different types of coping strategies. The relevant version (Intellectual disability) of
the questionnaire was adapted for the South African context on the basis of a pilot
study (Engelbrecht, Swart, & Eloff, 2001). This paper reports the findings of Part
C related to potential stressors for teachers during inclusion. Part D was omitted.
Part C contains eight categories that relate to different issues associated with
inclusionary practices. To obtain a suitable measure of stress, each of the eight
 298 P. Engelbrecht et al.

categories were treated separately. The eight categories include: administrative

issues (11 questions, for example, “record keeping”); support issues (11 questions,
for example, “employing a teacher aide”); health, safety and hygiene concerns (8
questions, for example, “administrating medication”); learner behaviour (20 ques-
tions, for example, “has a short attention span”); classroom management (7 ques-
tions, for example, “time available for other learners”); parents (9 questions, for
example, “unwillingness of the parents to come to terms with the child’s impair-
ment”); professional competency (9 questions, for example, “insufficient preservice
training”); and personal competency (8 questions, for example, “responding to the
child’s personality”). Each section also has an item asking respondents to nominate
sources of stress not already listed. As responses to these items were inconsistent
they have been omitted from the analyses reported here.
This questionnaire employs a 4-point Likert scale ranging from not stressful (1)
to extremely stressful (4). In addition, teachers are given the opportunity to indicate
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that an issue does not apply. To ensure that a maximum number of responses were
employed in the analysis, data were re-coded to combine responses recorded as not
stressful with responses recorded as does not apply. The reasoning behind this was that
if a stress factor does not apply to the participant, it will not contribute to the
teacher’s stress levels and could thus be considered as not stressful (Forlin, 2001).
Higher scores reflect higher levels of stress.

Structured Interviews
The ten participating teachers (five each from Gauteng and Western Cape
provinces) were purposefully selected as “information-rich cases” and as representa-
tive of the whole spectrum of schools in South Africa. When approached to
participate in the second phase of this research study they indicated their willingness.
In-depth structured interviews were conducted with each one individually to provide
a deeper understanding of the issues than was possible from interpreting the
quantitative data alone.

Procedure
A search was conducted with the assistance of the two relevant provincial education
departments to establish the number of learners with intellectual disabilities in
inclusive classrooms. The schools included in the study were purposefully selected
in order to obtain information from a variety of schools as indicated earlier.
Subsequently, the principals of the selected schools were contacted in order to
establish contact with the teacher. Appointments were made to provide a synopsis
of the research project, the questionnaire involved, and to deliver the questionnaire
to the various schools. The participants were assured of anonymity. Collection dates
for the completed questionnaires were mutually agreed upon.
All interviews conducted with the 10 selected teachers were recorded to capture
responses verbatim, thus reducing the possibility of interviewer influence on the
 Including Learners 299

interpretation of responses. The interviews were then transcribed and translated into
English where necessary.

Analysis of Data
Packages from the SPSS and Statistica computer programs were employed to
analyse the quantitative data. The questionnaire as interview guide constituted a
descriptive analytical framework for the analysis of the qualitative data (Patton,
1990). The transcribed data of the 10 interviews were carefully examined and
compared within the framework of the TSC.

Results
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The results of the study will be presented by discussing the quantitative and
qualitative findings alternatively. Because of the small number of participants in this
study caution should be exercised as far as the generalisation of these results to all
South African teachers. Based on the mean response scores to all of the items, the
results indicate that the total group of participating teachers were mildly stressed
(M ⫽ 2.17) by the experience of including a learner with an intellectual disability in
their class.
The first research aim was to consider each of the 75 items of the questionnaire
in order to determine the specific issues that cause teachers most stress and those
that are the least stressful for them when including a learner with an intellectual
disability in a mainstream classroom.

Most Stressful Issues for Teachers During Inclusion

When analysing the questionnaires 11 items were identified as being the most
stressful (M ⱖ 2.53) (see Table I). These items related closely to five of the eight
categories, namely administrative issues, support, the behaviour of the learners, the
teacher’s perceived self-competence, and the parents of the learners with intellectual
disabilities.
Administrative issues would include teachers’ concerns for being held personally
accountable for the educational outcomes of learners with intellectual disabilities in
their classrooms. Taking a score of 2.53 and higher as indicative of significant levels
of stress (see Table I), 84% of the teachers found this stressful. In addition, adapting
the curriculum to meet the needs of learners (80%) and adjusting unit plans (71%)
to support the learners were considered stressful.
Interviews with the teachers indicated that they lacked knowledge on how to
adjust unit plans. They commented as follows:

I don’t know how. He must just do the same work. I feel that they expect
me to be a magician.

I find it quite stressful, because this is a new learner with new needs and
 Downloaded by [Universite Laval] at 02:35 09 July 2014

TABLE I. The most stressful issues for teachers during inclusion (M ⱖ 2.53)
300 P. Engelbrecht et al.

Item Potential stressors Category M SD

31 The learner has a short attention span Behaviour 3.25 .93

58 Limited contact with parent(s) Parents 2.91 1.16
8 Being held accountable for the learner’s educational outcomes Administrative issues 2.89 1.10
65 Socio-economic disadvantage of the family Parents 2.88 1.15
3 Adapting the curriculum to meet the learner’s needs Administrative issues 2.69 1.14
34 The learner has poor communication skills Behaviour 2.67 1.15
74 Reduced ability to teach others learners as effectively as you would like Professional competency 2.66 1.19
70 Sustaining an active learning environment for the learner with an Professional competency 2.65 1.19
intellectual disability
4 Adjusting unit plans Administrative issues 2.62 1.19
12 Locating age-appropriate resources for the classroom Support 2.54 1.04
69 Inadequate inservice training in meeting the needs of learners with Professional competency 2.53 1.20
intellectual disabilities
 Including Learners 301

I am not used to working with such a learner. I find it particularly difficult

to adjust unit plans because I also have a gifted learner in my class.
A few teachers also indicated that insufficient financial resources were available in
their schools to provide for the educational needs of all their learners. One summed
up the situation as follows,
So I can say it is very stressful, because we can’t obtain the necessary
funding.
Competence issues included teachers’ concerns for sustaining an active learning
environment for the learners with intellectual disabilities. Seventy-six percent of the
teachers found this stressful. In almost every instance they considered that they were
personally responsible for sustaining an active learning environment. During the
interviews some of the teachers voiced their concerns as follows:
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I don’t always know how to help the learner and I don’t have enough time.
They expect me to make the difference and to catch up in one year.
It is so difficult to keep him busy in the big class.
They expect me to make all the difference in the learner’s learning and
progress.
Most teachers (75%) were also concerned about their ability to teach other learners
in the class while they were focusing on the learner with an intellectual disability.
Data from the interviews revealed teachers’ concerns in this respect. As one teacher
stated:
There are so many other learners in my class with learning and reading
problems. I need to divide my attention and I find it very stressful because
of the big classes.
One of the teachers was an experienced teacher with more than 10 years’ teaching
experience. She perceived herself as incompetent when the learner with an intellec-
tual disability appeared to reach a plateau in the learning curve and the support team
suggested a transfer to a special school. The teacher experienced this as a failure on
her part to include the learner successfully. Two years previously she had included
a learner with severe intellectual and physical disabilities successfully, but with the
assistance of a full-time classroom assistant.
Teachers experienced their perceived lack of appropriate training to meet the
needs of a learner with an intellectual disability as stressful. Sixty-six percent of the
teachers perceived their preservice training as either non-existent or inadequate. The
majority of teachers were initially only trained to teach mainstream class learners. All
of the teachers who were interviewed substantiated the need for appropriate training.
I am not trained to work with these children. If I can just have the
knowledge or somebody to show me how.
I was only trained to teach normal children in the mainstream.
 302 P. Engelbrecht et al.

The lack of trained teachers needs to be addressed.

If a person had better education or training, maybe in relation with this

problem of remedial stuff, you would be able to do more for the child, but
because you didn’t get enough training …

My training was inadequate. We are not allowed to attend courses during

school hours although it is very important to have them.

The third area of stress for teachers in an inclusive classroom was the behaviour of
the learners with intellectual disabilities. Their short attention span and poor com-
munication were especially stressful for teachers. Nearly 95% of the participating
teachers reported the learners’ short attention span as a stressor while 76% indicated
the learners’ poor communication as a stressor. Teachers who were interviewed
reported as follows:
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He cannot pay attention in class or finish his work. He is very quiet in class
and hardly says a word.

I can see that she wants to say something to others, but because of her
speed of talking … I feel helpless when I see her struggling to communi-
cate.

Learners’ use of inappropriate social behaviour was also stressful to 60% of the
participants. The mean score for this item did not reach the cut-off score of 2.53,
however. The interviewees were especially uncomfortable when learners displayed
aggressive behaviour.

Sometimes he physically attacks others.

When she first came to school, she was very nasty.

Limited contact with parents of learners with intellectual disabilities was another
main stressor for 80% of teachers. The socio-economic disadvantages of some of the
families of learners with an intellectual disability were also considered a stressor by
the teachers and one of the main contributors to these parents’ lack of involvement
with their children’s academic progress. Comments made by the teachers inter-
viewed were as follows:

I don’t see them often. They don’t understand the problem. They don’t
have money. Not always food in the house.

The parents do not come to the school. They leave the responsibility of his
learning to me. They don’t have jobs. They can’t afford clothes.

Support for the learner with an intellectual disability in the classroom was also a
stressor for teachers, but only in so far as they experienced stress locating appropri-
ate educational resources for the classroom. This was mostly attributed to financial
constraints.
 Including Learners 303

TABLE II. The least stressful issues for teachers during inclusion (M ⬍ 1.50)

Item Potential stressors Category M SD

40 Is over-loving Behaviour 1.23 .64

6 Obtaining physical adaptations Administrative issues 1.31 .86
(e.g., paths, handrails, or gate locks)
23–29 All health, safety, and hygiene issues Health, safety and hygiene ⱕ 1.35 .89
42 Has poor mobility Behaviour 1.36 .86
60 Parent(s) in the classroom Parents 1.36 .87
77 Undertaking tasks associated with the Professional competency 1.44 .94
learner’s condition (e.g., toileting)

Least Stressful Issues for Teachers During Inclusion

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The least stressful issues for teachers (M ⬍ 1.50) during inclusion are presented in
Table II. The obtaining of physical adaptations (e.g. paths, handrails, or gate locks)
was not stressful for teachers in this study as they were dealing exclusively with
learners with intellectual disabilities. Likewise, health, safety, and hygiene issues of
learners with intellectual disabilities were not indicated as stressful.
As teachers found the lack of contact with parents stressful it could be expected
that the presence of parents in the classroom would be one of the least stressful
issues for teachers during inclusion. During the interviews all teachers indicated a
real need to work as partners with parents to the best interest of the learners.

I know that it will help to meet the parents. It will be extremely useful. So
that I can understand what the situation at home is like and how the
parents can help him at home. It will be extremely useful.

The data from the questionnaires indicated that the 10 issues related to support
for the teacher including a learner with an intellectual disability, caused only a
relatively small degree of stress. Issues pertaining to the services of an occupational
therapist, physiotherapist, speech therapist, and support teachers and issues dealing
with a teacher aide or facilitator in the classroom were not indicated as stressful to
teachers in the questionnaires. The following remarks of teachers during the inter-
views, however, presented a different picture, indicating that it was in light of the
absence of support personnel that teachers recorded only a small degree of stress in
this category/factor. In reality, teachers were in real need of adequate and continu-
ous support in the classroom and school.

Support services are not really available. Parents can’t pay for services. The
child needs support but the parents do not have the money.

There are support personnel on district level, but they are always too busy.

We don’t have support personnel. The remedial teacher’s post has been
withdrawn by the Department.
 304 P. Engelbrecht et al.

Relationship Between Stress and Independent Variables

This discussion concerns the investigation of the relationship between degree of
stress and six independent variables, namely age, gender, total number of years
teaching, highest qualification held, number of learners in the class, and number of
years involved with inclusive education.
Each teacher’s category scores were determined by calculating the mean level of
stress across all items included in the respective categories. Due to the fact that
teachers participating in this study reported low levels of stress regarding health,
safety, and hygiene issues of the learners with intellectual disabilities in their
mainstream classrooms, this category was deleted from further analysis. A reliability
analysis of the remaining items was conducted. As no item threatened internal
reliability significantly, all the remaining items were included in the final analysis. A
total of 68 items were included, forming seven categories, namely administrative
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issues (10 items), support (10 items), learner behaviour (19 items), the classroom (6
items), professional competency (8 items), personal competency (7 items), and
parents (8 items). Reliability of these items was measured by using Cronbach’s alpha
coefficient. All categories possessed moderate to high reliability with alpha
coefficients ranging from .60 to .89.
With the exception of gender, all other variables involved at least ordinal measure-
ment. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson correlations between the stress-
related categories and the independent variables were determined and Bonferroni
post hoc tests were conducted where applicable.
The independent variables of teacher gender, qualifications, number of years
teaching, and number of learners in the class were not significantly associated with
any of the stress level categories.
The variable of teacher age was categorised into three groups ( ⬍ 36; 36–45; ⬎ 45)
and was significantly related (p ⬍ .05) to one stress category, namely classroom
issues, F(2, 51) ⫽ 5.93. The Bonferroni post hoc tests indicated that the age group
older than 45 experienced less stress than the 36 to 45 age group (p ⫽ .004). Means
for the two groups were 1.55 and 2.53 respectively.
The variable years of teaching in an inclusive environment was found to be
significantly related to support available to teachers and learners in the inclusive
classroom. The correlation was ⫺ 0.32 (p ⫽ .03) indicating that teachers with less
experience in an inclusive environment indicated more stress.

Discussion
Educational transformation is a reality in South Africa and teachers are currently
dealing with change on many levels of their profession. The implementation of
inclusive education could be perceived as placing additional demands on teachers,
potentially causing stress and impacting negatively on the teacher and on the
educational progress of learners, including those with special educational needs in
mainstream classrooms. This study sheds important light on the issues that could be
 Including Learners 305

potential stressors and need to be taken into account in the implementation of

inclusive education in South African schools and classrooms.
The present study reports on a sample of teachers’ perceptions of the stressors
when including a learner with an intellectual disability in a mainstream classroom.
Previous research found that the inclusion of a learner with an intellectual disability
evokes resistance and feelings of anxiety (Avramides et al., 2000; Scruggs &
Mastropieri, 1996; Soodak et al., 1998; Wilszenski, 1993; Winzer, 1998). The
results of this study indicate that South African teachers do experience stress when
including a learner with an intellectual disability.
The five areas identified as the most stressful—administrative issues, support, the
behaviour of the learner, the teacher’s self-perceived competence, and the lack of
interaction with the parents of learners with intellectual disabilities—all point to the
lack of effective preparation of teachers to accommodate the unique needs of
learners with intellectual disabilities within an inclusive educational approach. Both
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the qualitative and quantitative phases of this study substantiate teachers’ need for
high quality training for inclusive education. Until recently, teacher education in
South Africa has been characterised by fragmentation and deep disparities in both
the duration and the quality of teacher education with the result that many South
African teachers are disadvantaged by the poor quality of their training. In the past,
preservice and inservice training assumed that children with disabilities would be
educated in separate special schools. Only as a recent initiative have educational
institutes in South Africa begun to train teachers to accommodate a diverse range of
learner needs in one inclusive system. Training in administrative issues involved in
inclusive education, exposure to the best inclusive practices and collaboration with
colleagues and parents and the availability of support structures are viewed as an
integral and important part of teacher training for inclusive schooling (Engelbrecht,
2000). Training for inclusive education in South Africa should move away from a
focus on exclusion, individualism, and isolation to an emphasis on eco-systemic
values, such as promoting sustainability, alliance, cooperation, and mutual support
(Engelbrecht, Forlin et al., 2001).
The behaviour of the learner with an intellectual disability was also indicated as
a source of concern for the teachers participating in this study. This possibly also
manifested as an indication of teachers’ inadequate preparation for a learner popu-
lation with diverse needs. In light of this, teachers should be provided with intensive
training in managing emotional and behaviour problems of learners in the classroom
and in meeting the needs of learners with diverse needs. A large percentage of
teachers reported feeling stressed by inappropriate social behaviour on the part of
the learner. Consideration should be given to addressing the possible underlying
causes for behaviour problems and to the simultaneous enhancement of the social
skills of learners with intellectual disabilities.
Another main stressor for teachers was the limited contact with parents of the
learner with an intellectual disability. The socio-economic disadvantage of the
majority of families of learners included in this study (and representative of the
majority of families in South Africa) was indicated as a main contributor to parents’
lack of involvement with their children’s progress. As in other countries, employ-
 306 P. Engelbrecht et al.

ment makes it difficult for some parents to get to the school for meetings, whilst
among the unemployed other factors (e.g., poor health) contribute to lack of
participation (Henley, Ramsamy, & Algozinne, 1999). The active involvement of
parents in the learning process of their children is central to effective learning and
development. The South African Schools Act (Republic of South Africa, 1996)
recognises parents as primary caregivers of their children and that they are, therefore,
a central resource to the education system. Where parents’ participation is not
facilitated and encouraged effective learning is hindered. Lack of resources to
facilitate such involvement and lack of parent empowerment, especially in poorer
communities, all contribute to a lack of parental involvement in schools (Department
of National Education, 1997). Especially in poorer communities, teachers would
have to take the initiative to reach out to parents and to make them part of the school
community.
The results on the category of support provides an interesting scenario. The
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quantitative phase of the study did not report a high incidence of stress in this respect,
although certain items did point out stressful issues. It is, however, common
knowledge that multi-disciplinary support services in schools in South Africa are
either ineffective or absent. Results from the qualitative phase of the study confirmed
the absence of support services and indicated that teachers were in real need of
effective and continuous support in an inclusive classroom and school. The majority
of schools in South Africa experience problems accommodating learners with
educational needs especially due to the absence of effective support services in schools
and districts (Department of National Education, 2000). Based on the results of
research conducted with the TSC questionnaire, Engelbrecht, Swart, and Eloff
(2001) suggested that support programs need to respond effectively to the demands
of an inclusive educational system and in particular to the needs of the teachers who
will be directly involved in the day-to-day implementation of these programs.
Although the number of learners in the class was not significantly associated with
the different stress categories, the issue of overcrowded classrooms was a recurring
theme during the interviews with the teachers. A constant lack of resources and
overcrowded classrooms due to financial constraints is a reality in South African
schools. It was especially teachers in the age group older than 45 that indicated less
stress with regard to classroom issues when including a learner with an intellectual
disability. As this was not clarified during the interviews with the teachers, it is
difficult to make assumptions in this respect.
Teachers with less experience in an inclusive environment indicated more stress,
which may in part be due to the absence of adequate support services. Teachers fairly
new to teaching within an inclusive environment would understandably feel more in
need of support in the classroom and have not had sufficient time to develop their
own support networks amongst other teachers and in their communities.

Conclusion
Inclusive education is a fairly new initiative in education in South Africa and
is perceived as making additional demands on teachers, thus increasing the suscep-
 Including Learners 307

tibility of teachers to occupational stress. This study confirmed the findings of

international research, that teachers do experience stress when including a learner
with an intellectual disability in a mainstream classroom. The findings presented in
this study can provide an initial context for understanding the stressors for teachers
in inclusive education as well as in the inclusion of a learner with an intellectual
disability. An understanding of the conditions that are likely to cause teachers most
stress during inclusion will allow for more appropriate teacher training and for more
focussed support to teachers in inclusive classrooms.
The potential stressors that have been identified in this research are within the
realms of being addressed in an inclusive school community. Preservice and inser-
vice programs should address all identified issues to ensure that teachers will be able
to deal more effectively with learner diversity in the classroom and school.
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Author Note
The authors would like to thank the two Provincial Education Departments, school
principals, and teachers for their collaboration and cooperation.

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