Teacher Training Policies and the Social Inclusion of Deaf Pupils in Basic Education in Burkina Faso: A Conceptual and Documentary Analysis
Jean Sawadogo
*
University Norbert Zongo (UNZ), Koudougou, Burkina Faso.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aim: To examine how teacher-training policies may shape the social inclusion of deaf pupils in basic education in Burkina Faso and to develop propositions for subsequent institutional research.
Study Design: A conceptual and documentary analysis drawing on the social model of disability, stigma theory, Deaf studies, inclusive-education research, selected peer-reviewed studies and relevant legal instruments.
Setting and Methods: The analysis concerns the policy and educational context of Burkina Faso. It draws on a purposive, non-systematic reading of published scholarship and identifiable international and national policy instruments; it does not analyse school records or collect primary participant data. CEFISE-BENAJA in Ouagadougou is identified as a prospective site for a later case study.
Findings: A three-level framework distinguishes macro-level rules and policy definitions, meso-level training and school arrangements, and micro-level classroom interactions. Four mechanisms are proposed: communicative inaccessibility, deficit-oriented framing, limited participation of Deaf adults, and disconnection between training and implementation. These are analytically derived propositions rather than effects demonstrated in Burkina Faso. Law No. 012-2010/AN places inclusive education within initial and continuing teacher-training obligations, but compliance and classroom outcomes cannot be inferred from the legal text.
Conclusion: Teacher preparation can be examined through the alignment of accessible communication, inclusive professional knowledge, Deaf participation, and institutional support. Context-sensitive, participatory empirical investigation is required to assess how these pathways operate in practice.
Keywords: Deaf education, inclusive education, teacher preparation, disability sociology, sign language, Burkina Faso