Identification Of Gifted And Talented Learners With Hearing Imparement In Inclusive Education Programmes In Kenya

International and national policy documents support the provision of education for gifted and talented learners with hearing impairment in inclusive education programmes. The study investigated the identification of gifted and talented learners with hearing impairment in inclusive education programmes in Kenya. Qualitative and quantitative research utilizing concurrent triangulation study design focused on respondents’’ experiences on identification process of gifted and talented learners with hearing impairment in inclusive education programmes in Kenya. Interview, questionnaires, focus group discussion and observation checklists were used to collect data from purposely selected respondents which included 1 Principal 28 teachers and 208 learners of a technical institution in Kenya, 1 National Council for Persons with Disabilities officer, 3Educational Assessment and Research Center officers and 2 Quality Assurance and Standards officers in Siaya County, Kenya. The major findings of the study were that learners with hearing impairment volunteered themselves or were identified by their peers as gifted and talented, others were identified by their teachers when they were exposed to variety of activities in and outside the classrooms and workshops. There was also disconnect between Special Needs Education Policy and practice, and between various stakeholders. The conclusion drawn was that Kenya used informal identification tools such as self, peer, parent/caregiver or teachers nomination. Standardized identification tools could not be used in Kenya to identify gifted and talented learners with hearing impairment in inclusive education programme because they were culturally biased, which is against the principle of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child that Kenya ratified and has entrenched in its laws and policies. There is need for Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development to develop a standardized identification tool for gifted and talented learners with hearing impairment.