Rethinking Practical Methodologies

The implementation of Botswana’s Inclusive Education Policy has encountered numerous inefficiencies and limitations. One of the limitations is the accessibility of vocational institutions to learners with diverse disabilities. In 2012, following the introduction of the Inclusive Education Policy of 2011, the Department of Technical and Vocational Education designated certain brigades (community vocational training centers) and technical colleges to admit learners with different types of disabilities. However, of the 39 vocational institutions, only two enrolled learners with disabilities. While this gesture was significant, existing scholarship in Botswana has primarily focused on policy implementation challenges, with limited attention given to the role of effective methodological strategies in bridging the gap between policy and practice. This study explored practical Afrocentric methodologies that can close the gaps between policy and practice in technical and vocational education. The paper is a secondary analysis of the empirical findings from a study—A Capabilities Approach to an African Inclusive Education in Technical Vocational Education Training in Botswana (2020), which was conducted in two vocational institutions that admitted students with mild intellectual disabilities and hearing impairments. Nineteen one-on-one interviews were conducted from the technical college as well as two interviews with focus groups, each containing seven students drawn from the brigade. Thematic analysis was implored and three themes emerged: resilience, inclusivity, and educational agency. Further interrogation of these three themes revealed a three-way synergy between functionings, inclusive education, and Botho philosophies that was not captured fully in the first analysis. This re‑analysis was undertaken to explore the emergent synergy between the themes, with the aim of refining the methodological lens through which the practical methodologies are understood. These interwoven values offer a pathway toward educational equity by addressing the capability gaps faced by learners with disabilities. The study indicates that without deliberate instructional and pedagogical support, learners with disabilities risk symbolically ‘sitting at the table’ without access to the resources that define true inclusion. The study argues for the strategic integration of the Botho (Ubuntu) philosophy and the capability approach to foster pedagogical innovation and encourage the creative application of assistive teaching technologies and methodologies.