Alison Bucholz

146 Pages·2017·2.31 MB·English

by  Information Technology

The experiences of a student with cerebral palsy
at a higher education institution:
a case study
by
Alison Welch Bucholz
Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
degree of Master of Education in Educational Support in the
Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University
Supervisor: Prof. Estelle Swart
March 2017
Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za
DECLARATION
By submitting this thesis electronically, I declare that the entirety of the work contained
herein is my own, original work, that I am the sole author thereof (save to the extent
explicitly otherwise stated), that reproduction and publication thereof by Stellenbosch
University will not infringe any third-party rights and that I have not previously in its entirety
or in part submitted it for obtaining any qualification.
Alison Welch Bucholz March 2017
Copyright © 2017 Stellenbosch University
All rights reserved
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DEDICATION
For Tatjana

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the following people for accompanying me on this journey:
• Stellenbosch University, for granting me leeway on this journey.
• My supervisor, Estelle Swart, for her unwavering patience and invaluable guidance
throughout my somewhat detoured tour.
• My colleagues, for cheering me on with regular words of encouragement.
• My language editor, Dr Ralph Goodman, for following my progress keenly.
• My regular Shut Up and Write group, for keeping me on track.
• My dear friends, for being steadfast bystanders.
• My brother, Matt and sister, Dee, for their unconditional love and support.
• My mom and dad, Joy and Colin Welch, for whom I promised I would finish.
• My husband, Mike, and daughter, Kirsty, unwitting but gracious passengers on this
journey.
• Tatjana, for being Tatjana.
• My Maker and my angels, for helping me find my path.
It would have been a lonely, if not impossible, journey without you all.

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ABSTRACT
Across the world, the inclusion and support of all students in mainstream education
systems is accepted as a basic human right. Although access to higher education
institutions for students with physical impairments has improved over the last two decades,
in line with the Salamanca Statement and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities, full inclusion of students with physical impairments at higher
education institutions is yet to be realized. The purpose of this critical narrative inquiry was
to investigate the experience of one student with cerebral palsy at a higher education
institution in order to gain valuable insights into the nature of support required for future
students with similar physical impairments in higher education. A critical emancipatory
paradigm was adopted incorporating qualitative life history case study methodology.
Interviews and the co-researcher’s disability poetry formed the primary sources of data for
this inquiry. In order to convey the true essence of the co-researcher’s story, narrative and
thematic data analyses were utilized. The key message to emerge from this inquiry is that
students with physical impairments are a heterogeneous group, and as such, need to be
supported individually by means of a social relational approach to disability. Higher
education institutions need to play a pivotal role in creating pathways to success for these
students by creating socially cohesive environments and by applying universal design for
learning principles systemically.

Key words: critical disability study in education; higher education; inclusion; cerebral
palsy; case study; student’s experience; social relational model; pathways to success;
universal design for learning.
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OPSOMMING
Die insluiting en ondersteuning van alle studente in hoofstroom onderwyssisteme word
wêreldwyd as ʼn basiese mensereg aanvaar. Alhoewel toegang tot hoëronderwys-
instansies vir studente met liggaamlike gestremdheid die afgelope twee dekades in lyn
met die Verklaring van Salamanca en die bepalings van die Verenigde Nasies se
Konvensie oor die Regte van persone met Gestremdheid verbeter het, moet volle inklusie
vir studente met liggaamlike gestremdheid by hoër onderwysinstansies nog verwesenlik
word. Die doel van hierdie kritiese narratiewe studie is om ondersoek in te stel na die
ervaringe van een student met serebrale gestremdheid by ʼn hoëronderwysinstansie om
sodoende insig te verkry in die aard van ondersteuning wat benodig word vir toekomstige
studente met soortgelyke gestremdhede by hoëronderwysinstansies. ʼn Krities
geëmansipeerde paradigma is ingespan wat kwalitatiewe lewensgeskiedenis gevalstudie
metodologie behels. Die primêre bron van data was onderhoude en die digkuns van die
mede-navorser. Ten einde die deelnemer se verhaal te ondersoek is narratiewe en
tematiese dataverwerking aangewend. Die hoofsaak wat uit hierdie ondersoek aan die lig
kom, is dat studente met gestremdhede ʼn heterogene groep is en dus individueel
ondersteun moet word vanuit ʼn sosiaal-relasionele benadering tot gestremdheid. Hoër-
onderwysinstansies speel ʼn deurslaggewende rol om die weg na sukses te baan vir
hierdie studente deur sosiale kohesie in omgewings te bevorder en beginsels van
universele leerontwerp toe te pas.

Sleutelwoorde: kritiese gestremdheidstudie in opvoedkunde; hoëronderwys; inklusie;
serebrale gestremdheid; gevalstudie; ervarings van studente; sosiaal-relasionele
benadering; weg na sukses; universele leerontwerp
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ......................................................................................................... i
DEDICATION ........................................................................................................... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... iv
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. v
OPSOMMING .......................................................................................................... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... vii
LIST OF APPENDICES ........................................................................................... xi
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ......................................................................... xii
CHAPTER 1: CONTEXT AND RATIONALE OF THE STUDY ................................ 1
1.1 PREAMBLE ................................................................................................... 1
1.2 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1
1.3 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY ......................................................................... 2
1.4 PROBLEM STATEMENT, PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........ 4
1.5 DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY ........................................ 5
1.6 THE RESEARCHERS ................................................................................... 6
1.7 ASSUMPTIONS ............................................................................................ 6
1.8 STRUCTURE AND PRESENTATION ............................................................ 7
1.9 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER 2: PHYSICAL DISABILITY AND HIGHER EDUCATION ...................... 8
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2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 8
2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ..................................................................... 8
2.3 CEREBRAL PALSY ..................................................................................... 14
2.4 RESILIENCE AND STUDENTS WITH IMPAIRMENTS ............................... 17
2.5 INCLUSIVE TRENDS .................................................................................. 18
2.5.1 International developments ............................................................................. 20
2.5.2 South African developments ........................................................................... 22
2.6 STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION ...................... 26
2.6.1 Access and throughput ................................................................................... 26
2.6.2 Support services for SU students with impairments ........................................ 28
2.6.3 Literature on students with physical impairments in Higher Education ............ 29
2.7 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 32
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ................................ 33
3.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 33
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN ....................................................................................... 34
3.2.1 Rationale for a critical, emancipatory paradigm............................................... 35
3.2.2. Purpose of the study ....................................................................................... 38
3.2.3. Context of the study ........................................................................................ 38
3.2.4 Rationale for qualitative research methodology .............................................. 39
3.2.5 Selection of participant / co-researcher ........................................................... 41
3.3 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS..................................................................... 42
3.4. REFLEXIVITY .............................................................................................. 44
3.5 DATA COLLECTION.................................................................................... 44
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3.5.1 Existing literature ............................................................................................ 46
3.5.2 Informal and semi-structured interviews .......................................................... 46
3.5.3 Poetry as data ................................................................................................ 49
3.5.4 Additional artefacts ......................................................................................... 50
3.6 DATA MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS ...................................................... 50
3.6.1 Narrative analysis ........................................................................................... 51
3.6.2 Thematic analysis ........................................................................................... 53
3.6.3 Research criteria of the study ......................................................................... 55
3.7 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 57
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS OF THE STUDY ............................................................. 58
4.1 NARRATIVE ANALYSIS .............................................................................. 58
4.1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 58
4.1.2 Pre-university .................................................................................................. 58
4.1.3 University ........................................................................................................ 62
4.1.4 Future prospects ............................................................................................. 70
4.2 PRESENTATION OF THE THEMATIC FINDINGS ...................................... 71
4.2.1 Internal barriers............................................................................................... 71
4.2.2 External barriers ............................................................................................. 73
4.2.3 Support creating pathways to success ............................................................ 76
4.2.4 Tatjana’s reflections and advice to students with physical impairments .......... 80
4.3 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 84
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................... 86
5.1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 86
5.2 IMPLICATIONS OF THIS STUDY ............................................................... 86
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5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ................................ 91
5.4 STRENGTHS OF THE STUDY .................................................................... 91
5.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY.................................................................... 92
5.6 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 92
REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 94
APPENDIX A ........................................................................................................ 108
APPENDIX B ......................................................................................................... 114
APPENDIX C ......................................................................................................... 118
APPENDIX D ......................................................................................................... 119
APPENDIX E ........................................................................................................ 120
APPENDIX F ........................................................................................................ 121
APPENDIX G........................................................................................................ 122
APPENDIX H ........................................................................................................ 126
APPENDIX I ......................................................................................................... 127
APPENDIX J ........................................................................................................ 129
APPENDIX K ........................................................................................................ 130
APPENDIX L ........................................................................................................ 131
APPENDIX M ....................................................................................................... 132
APPENDIX N ........................................................................................................ 133

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