Challenges teachers face in identifying learners who experience barriers to learning: Reflection on essential support structures

The purpose of this paper was to explore the teachers’ challenges in identifying learners who experience barriers to learning. Full-service schools are new institutions in South Africa which have been established in terms of the Education White Paper 6 (Department of Education, 2001). Teachers in such schools are expected to have skills and knowledge to identify learners with barriers to learning and provide support. Most teachers in Full-Service Schools possess qualifications to teach in mainstream schools. It is recommended that teachers should therefore have skills and knowledge of identifying learners with barriers to learning in order to minimise bias, non-identification, over-identification as well as mis-identification. This qualitative study employed a case study design to examine teachers’ challenges in identifying learners with barriers to learning. Six teachers were selected for focus group interviews and the Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support strategy (SIAS) documents were studied to confirm the findings from interviews.