New Inclusive Education Pedagogy: A Case of Learners with Hearing Impairments in Early Education Grades in Kenya

Abstract

Holistic development in children takes place in the first 5 years of child development. This is a critical period when the child's brain undergoes quick and rapid growth and development. Children acquire the ability to think and reason, speak and learn.  Hearing impaired children in this stage are not able to undergo these processes normally as compared to children without hearing impairments. These learners to undergo these developments they have to be assisted by significant others around them. The significant others include teachers, parents and the government. Measures have to be taken including identification, assessment, referral to medical institution and educational programs. Inclusive educational programs are the appropriate places where intervention measures can be taken. In inclusive settings these children will be able to interact with peers of the same chronological age, they will play together and learn to share things early in life. It is in these settings these children will acquire basic education which will in turn assure future learning and development. In Kenya there are few inclusive early childhood programs where early interventions measures can be taken.  Inclusive settings are the appropriate places where all children including those with hearing impairments access quality and equitable education. The teachers handling hearing impaired learners in these programs in Kenya do not have knowledge and skills of handling learners in inclusive early education programs. It is on this premise the present author analyzed the inclusive pedagogy from secondary data. The inclusive pedagogy involved knowledge and skills include the nature of hearing impairments, technology used for amplifying sound and the degrees of hearing loss, assessment procedures, communication methods, teaching methods, curriculum adaptation, and teaching/learning resources. Teachers should be trained in inclusive education pedagogy in Kenya so that they can provide quality education to all young learner's early learners in inclusive settings including those learners with hearing impairments.