The 46 th Annual ASERA Conference
Perth, 30 June – 3 July 2015
Students with Disabilities & Science:
A Story from
An Indonesian Inclusive High School
Liana Aisyah1, Missy Morton2, and Lindsey Conner3
1Sunan
Kalijaga State Islamic University of Yogyakarta, Indonesia
1,2,3 University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
Background of the study
Indonesian
Context
PWD &/in
STEM
Students’
Voice
Available Knowledge
Current State
2
Inclusive Education
Inclusive Society
Under-researched
 Scruggs & Mastropieri (1992)
 Scruggs et al. (1998)
Underrepresented
 Seymour & Hunter (1998)
 Supalo (2013)
Under-performed
3
 NCES (2011)
 NSF (2013)
Persons
With
Disabilities
in/& STEM
Mostly perspectives
of others
 Teachers: e.g. Kahn &
Lewis, 2014; Kirch et al,
2007;Norman et al.,1998)
 Parents: e.g. Alston &
Hampton (2000)
 Special Ed. Coordinator
(e.g. Vannest et al., 2009)
Very important

“Key to unlocking inclusive
education practices”
(Gordon, 2010)

“Can be a critical starting
point for teachers in
reflecting on their practice”
(MacArthur & Kelly, 2004)
Part of the practice of
inclusive research (Nind,
2014)

Students’
Voice in
Inclusive
Education
Research
Yet traditionally
ignored
 Fielding (2011)
 McMaster (2013)
4

Inclusive
Education
in
Indonesia
A long history: participation to integration
to inclusion
 Tasputra, 2011 Akter & Kuntoro, 2011; Firdaus, 2010;

Numerous efforts: legislation, policy,
projects
 Sunardi et al., 2011; Mudzakir, 2011

Yet slow progress: sustainability &
commitment?
 Mitchell and Desai, 2005; Haryanto, 2010

5
Forces to help speed up the progress
 Organizations of persons with disabilities
 NGOs on disability issues
 Parents and allies
The bigger study:
ethnographic study in 3 inclusive high schools
Context:
Culture, Values &
Policy
NGOs
School
Parents
Science
Classes
6
Policy
Makers
This
presentation
Leading
Figures
in
Society
This presentation
Interest
Perception
Memorable
learning
experience
Issues
Challenges
7
Who are these students



All with visual disabilities
All male
All Non Science Major
• Atmojo, grade 10, Social Science Major
Currently taking Biology
as a cross major course
•
•
•
•
8
Kuwat, grade 11, Social Science Major
Wahyu, grade 12, Social Science Major
Indra, grade 11, Religion Major
Hasan, grade 12, Social Science Major Took Physics, Chemistry
& Biology while in Grade
10 (before streaming)
Data gathering & analysis
Coding &
Preliminary
Analysis
Observe
Bio Class
9
Preliminary findings
Interview
with SWD
Into Science?
• Indra, grade 11, Religion Major
• Hasan, grade 12, Social Science Major
Indra:
“When I was in primary school, I
used to really like science. [I] still
liked it [in middle school], but I
started to feel overwhelmed,
tired; It started to feel too much.”
Kuwat:
“Well, I am not really sure why,
but I have never had interest
[in science] since so many
years ago.”
• Atmojo, grade 10, Social Science Major
• Kuwat, grade 11, Social Science Major
• Wahyu, grade 12, Social Science Major
10
What they think about
Hasan
about Biology
& Physics
Science
Indra
about Biology
11
Kuwat
about Physics
Atmojo
about Biology
Wahyu
about Science
Nothing memorable
Play with science
• Mostly in primary school
Teacher
• Special support for SWD
• Teaching style
Achieved well
• Understand a topic
• Lead group work
12
What works and what doesn’t
Hands on science
• activity-based
• lab/field work
Text to Speech
software
• Good for text
• Not for graphics, formulas
Teacher
• More support for SWD
• Teaching style
Memorizing
Working in group
Complicated
calculation
• More fun
• Increase confidence
13
• But does not relate to daily
life (as opposed calculation
in Finance)
Context of the findings:
School A

A public madrasah
 A madrasah vs a general
school vs a private
Islamic School

An inclusive school
 The Indonesian version of an inclusive school
 SWD in school A
 Affirmative policy for SWD
14
Context of the findings
Science in School A

Streaming: what & when
 2006 Curriculum
 2013 Curriculum

Science curriculum
 Purposes
 Teaching strategies
 Assessment
15

SWD in Science
Classes
 Teaching strategies
 Assessment
16
17
Corresponding email:
1liana.aisyah@pg.canterbury.ac.nz