Disabled inclusion as a humanising and healing praxis in higher education transformation

Oct 15, 2026

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Disabled student inclusion is explored as a humanising and healing praxis within higher education transformation. The study addresses low participation and completion rates for youth with disability in South Africa, linking structural barriers to inadequate access and support. Using an exploratory qualitative case-study design informed by an emancipatory disability research paradigm, data from four 90-minute focus groups with 10 participants at the University of Cape Town were thematically analysed. Findings highlight mindset shifts and the cultivation of belonging through inclusive practices.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Positionality

Study design and methods

Sampling and participants

Data collection and analysis

Findings

Fostering inclusion

Contribution

Transformation in Higher Education ISSN: (Online) 2519-5638,(Print) 2415-0991 ~~ ~~ Page 1 of 12 Origina~~l Research ~~ Disabled inclusion as a humanising and healing praxis in higher education transformation Authors: Sumaya Gabriels1 Dureyah Abrahams1 Theresa Lorenzo1,2,3 Affiliations: 1Division of Disability Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa 2Inclusive Practices Africa, Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa 3Health through Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Sport (HPALS Research Centre), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa Corresponding author: Sumaya Gabriels, [sumaya.gabriels@uct.ac.za](sumaya.gabriels@uct.ac.za) Dates: Received: 28 Feb. 2025 Accepted: 24 July 2025 Published: 01 Dec. 2025 How to cite this article: Gabriels, S., Abrahams, D. & Lorenzo, T., 2025,‘Disability inclusion as a humanising and healing praxis in higher education transformation’, Transformation in Higher Education 10(0), a550 . [https://doi.org/10.4102/](https://doi.org/10.4102/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.4102/)[the.v10i0.550](the.v10i0.550) Copyright: © 2025. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4 .0) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/](creativecommons.org/)[ ](creativecommons.org/)[licenses/by/4.0/](licenses/by/4.0/)) . Read online: Scan this QR code with your smart phone or mobile device to read online. Disabled students have a right to access higher education. Yet, only about one-fifth of youth with disability in South Africa attend and complete tertiary education. The low uptake and throughput are attributed to systemic and structural barriers. The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Vision 2030 is to ‘unleash human potential to create a fair and just society through three pillars of excellence, transformation and sustainability’. To operationalise this vision, the current needs of disabled students have to be seen holistically. This article shares the experiences of inclusion and participation at UCT from the perspectives of disabled students. An exploratory case study research design, informed by an emancipatory disability research paradigm, was used to gain a contextually layered understanding of participants with disability perspectives on campus life. Purposive sampling was used to select 10 participants enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the Faculties of Commerce, Humanities, and Health Sciences. Data were gathered using four focus group discussions of 90 min duration each and thematically analysed. Humanising Praxis was used as a transformative framework to interpret the findings.‘Fostering inclusion’ was one theme that revealed shifts in mindsets about disability to remove barriers to participation experienced by disabled students. Contribution: To cultivate an attitude of belonging, students’ personal agency must be harnessed, and academics must engage more in disability-inclusive practices that create support systems for both academic and social inclusion. Keywords: inclusivity; disability; transformation; higher education; institutional change; belonging. Introduction Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) globally are mandated to facilitate the inclusion of disabled students1 and to provide opportunities for these students to further their education so that they may find meaningful employment and contribute to society as they determine (Ndlovu 2021) . This mandate also applies to South African HEIs (Mutanga 2017b) . To transform universities into inclusive spaces where disabled students have the best opportunity to achieve their goals, they need to experience a sense of belonging, feel valued, and be part of a welcoming and accommodating academic environment. In this article, w

FAQs

Why is disability inclusion in higher education a focus in this article?

Disabled students have a right to access higher education, yet only about one-fifth of youth with disability in South Africa attend and complete tertiary education. The article links this low uptake to systemic and structural barriers.

What research design and sampling approach does the article use?

An exploratory qualitative case study design is used, informed by an emancipatory disability research paradigm. Purposive sampling selects 10 participants enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at UCT.

How were the data collected and analysed?

Data were gathered through four focus group discussions, each lasting 90 minutes. The collected data were thematically analysed, using Humanising Praxis as a transformative framework.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Ophelia