Abstract
This study sought to explore academic coping mechanisms against educational challenges among learners with hearing impairment (HI) in inclusive public secondary schools in Tanzania. Specifically, it was guided by two research questions: (i) What coping mechanisms are employed by learners with HI in inclusive public secondary schools to cope with academic challenges? (ii) How often do learners with HI seek academic help within the school environment? The study was informed by the critical theory (CT) to facilitate the understanding of educational barriers and coping mechanisms. Being a qualitative study, it drew on purposive and convenient sampling strategies to obtain 108 respondents, including 70 learners with HI, 27 classroom teachers, 3 heads of schools, 3 academic mistress/masters, 3 school counsellors, and 2 heads of special needs education units. The findings indicate that the key academic coping strategies and help-seeking behaviour were: seeking help from fellow learners without HI and teachers, private study, seeking counselling and guidance from school counsellors, and sitting in front of the class during teaching and learning sessions. The study concludes that learners with HI in the sampled inclusive public secondary schools were able to employ coping strategies that resulted mainly in emotional and academic comfort. Thus, it recommends the improvement of inclusive educational practices to create barrier-free teaching and learning environment in inclusive secondary schools. Furthermore, planning and implementation of IE for learners with HI should be reviewed to accommodate envisaged achievement in education as stipulated in the national Inclusive Education 2019-2021 Strategy, and other similar documents, to make it a success.
Recommended Citation
Possi, Mwajabu and Cosmas, Vincent J.
(2021)
"Academic Coping Mechanisms among Learners With Hearing Impairment in Inclusive Public Secondary Schools in Tanzani,"
Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 10:
No.
2, Article 2.
DOI: 10.56279/jhss
Available at:
https://commons.udsm.ac.tz/jhss/vol10/iss2/2