The Individual Education Plan (IEP) Process for Students with Intellectual Disabilities in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and Solutions
Mohammed, Alkahtani . 2015
This study attempts to critically explore the process underpinning the creation of Individual Educational Plans (IEP‟s) in the Saudi context. As such it explored the creation and implementation of IEP‟s for children with intellectual disabilities at mainstream boys‟ schools in Riyadh. The aim was to contribute an understanding of this process through the collection and analysis of qualitative data about Saudi Arabian educational policy and practice and to contribute to the broader international literature. An interpretive paradigm was adopted in meeting the research aims, with qualitative data collected by means of a case study approach. The qualitative interviews with 20 Saudi IEP team members and qualitative content analysis of documentary data from a key policy document provide rare insights into the practices and perspectives of the IEP team.
A clear discrepancy was identified between the Regulations of Special Education Institutes and Programmes (RSEIP) policy document and its implementation in mainstream boys‟ schools. Several issues influenced the participants‟ responses to the policy document which outlines the principles and practices of the IEP and its implementation. Whilst IEP teams within schools (which include teachers, head teachers, counsellors and psychologists) indicated a clear understanding of IEP and how it can be applied, the fathers of male children with intellectual disabilities, who were supposed to be important members of the team, were much less aware. The IEP team members were found to be unsure of their individual roles stipulated by the RSEIP document and therefore were not fulfilling these duties. Therefore, while teachers themselves were very committed and did most of the IEP planning and implementation, they did not understand their role in a partnership of other team members; the other staff (including fathers) who were involved did much less and sometimes almost nothing.
The study used Bronfenbrenner‟s ecological theory which suggests that problems involving child development need to be analysed at different levels of society: the microsystem; mesosystem; exosystem; and macrosystem. These systems are seen as mutually interacting to influence the development and implementation of the IEP. This theory provides an analytical framework to explore the reflections of IEP team members on how they implemented IEP, barriers they faced and strategies used to overcome these
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barriers. Bronfenbrenner‟s analytical framework helps to reveal the level of society at which the problems lie and provides a clear way of thinking about issues and how to address them. My study clearly demonstrates the value of this framework in analysing discrepancies between policy and practice, as well as the solutions to them. In non-theoretical terms the findings revealed four major barriers to IEP implementation: parental involvement; structural support; negative attitudes; and school level.
Analysis of team members‟ ideas about ways to tackle problems and resolve issues connected with implementing the IEP fell into five major topic areas: building collaborative teamwork; legal and administrative matters; appropriate assessment; curriculum development; and the coordination between the MoE, DGSE, mainstream schools and parents in relation to the IEP. Therefore, increasing knowledge of issues and solutions will be useful to inform future policy development and improve IEP practice in Saudi Arabia.
This study attempts to critically explore the process underpinning the creation of Individual Educational Plans (IEP‟s) in the Saudi context. As such it explored the creation and implementation of…