Promoting the Inclusion of Children with Developmental Disabilities in Regular Schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Education services for children with developmental disabilities are a key part of the multisectoral integrated care model that SPARK aims to develop. Eli Genovesi’s PhD project aims to develop a culturally-appropriate programme to promote effective inclusion and support of children with developmental disabilities in mainstream primary schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The programme will be co-developed in collaboration with local stakeholders, and subsequently piloted and evaluated. The final intervention is expected to be based around training teachers in relevant inclusive and special education strategies and ensuring they are supported and enabled to use them.
Project Phases
Phase 1: Synthesis of inclusive education strategies
We synthesised 32 qualitative studies selected through a systematic review in order to understand teachers, pupils and caregivers’ perspectives and experiences of strategies used to include children with developmental disabilities in mainstream school classrooms in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Phase 2: Review of existing resources
We conducted a systematic review of the academic and grey literature in order to map existing resources for (self-)education and training of teachers and non-specialists in low- and middle-income countries on developmental disabilities.
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Phase 3: Exploratory study
We have interviewed local stakeholders to understand:
The education needs of children with developmental disabilities in Ethiopia
Suggested interventions to meet these needs within mainstream schools
Factors that can ease or hinder the intervention implementation in Addis Ababa
Our first stakeholder workshop was held on 10th June 2022 at Addis Ababa University. We defined the goal of our intervention development project and explored needs to be addressed to meet such goal.
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Phase 4: Programme development
We aim to intervene to promote schooling of children with developmental disabilities in mainstream schools, based on findings from previous phases and in collaboration with local stakeholders.
We have conducted 5 intervention development workshops with representatives from the following groups in Ethiopia:
In the stakeholder workshops, we have used Theory of Change, a collaborative method to develop an intervention plan.
Click here for more information o the Theory of Change Map
We are now developing the intervention based on stakeholders' input.
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Phase 5: Pilot study
We will pilot test the programme in 3-4 mainstream primary schools in Addis Ababa and evaluate implementation outcomes and effectiveness using indicators previously determined through stakeholder engagement.
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Public Engagement
A public engagement half-day event for parents at two primary schools was held at Addis Ababa University on 22nd December 2022 and facilitated by Dr Tsegereda Haile Kifle. The event was attended by around 40 caregivers of children with and without developmental disabilities, accompanied by two special education teachers.
In the workshop:
We presented study findings from phases 3 and 4
We invited caregivers to give further input on needs for achieving inclusion
We facilitated sharing of values and expectations among caregivers
We facilitated collaborative problem-solving relative to inclusion in their schools
Participants greatly appreciated to be given a platform to discuss their needs and called for further opportunities for collaborative work towards improving the education of children with disabilities.
About Eli
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/elisa-genovesi
PhD supervisors: Dr Rosa Hoekstra & Prof Charlotte Hanlon
See funding information
Eli’s PhD is funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through the London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (LISS DTP). Additional funding external to SPARK and the LISS DTP is provided by a Thematic Research Grant from the British Institute of Eastern Africa (for phase 3) and the British Federation of Women Graduates Ida Smedley Maclean Fellowship awarded by Graduate Women International (for phases 4 and 5), and King's College London Centre for Doctoral Studies (for public engagement).
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