CULTURAL MEANINGS OF DISABILITY AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON INCLUSIVE TEACHING DECISIONS IN URBAN AND RURAL SCHOOLS OF PAKISTANS

Abstract

Reforms of inclusive education have increased the number of special educators working in regular schools but their place of operation in the inclusive environment is defined vaguely. The proposed work will focus on role conflict as it presents itself to special educators in inclusive schools and colleges in Pakistan, where it deals with the tension of professional identity and overall institutional expectations versus daily practice. The mismatch in policy ideals of collaboration and the disjointed realities of inclusive schooling are the subjects of research problem. The main aim of the research was to investigate the role identities of special educators working in the context of the inclusive setting in terms of what they perceive their work, how they negotiate their conflicting duties, and how they build up professional identity. A qualitative research design was utilized, where the semi-structured interviews with special educators in the public and private inclusive institutions were used to obtain the data. The paper presupposed the assumption that organizational structures, power relations, and ambiguous policy guidance determine role conflict, where the boundaries are determined by workload, staffing patterns, and leadership practices. These conclusions indicate that there exist ongoing strains associated with the cooperation with the general teachers, the anticipations of remediation over inclusion, discriminated status among school hierarchies, and emotional stress related to these professional uncertainties. These results are consistent with the international investigation of the role conflict in inclusive education and can be accompanied by the country-specific information in Pakistan. The paper finds that the presence of unresolved role conflict disrupts the wellbeing of professionals as well as the inclusiveness of education.