SUMMARY
This study explored mainstream secondary school teachers’ understanding of inclusion from an interpretive paradigm and adopted a qualitative research design. The study used the inclusive pedagogy approach as the theoretical framework which was propounded by Florian, Back-Hawkins, and Rouse which is located in the sociocultural framework. The research was conducted at three selected schools in Gauteng, a province in South Africa. Twelve participants were purposefully sampled using critical case sampling. Data were generated using individual face-to-face interviews, followed by thematic data analysis. The findings of the study show that teachers understand inclusion as the accommodation of all learners, from a disability perspective, as equal treatment and non-discrimination of learners, and as unity in diversity. The study concludes that teachers have different understandings of inclusion with some seeing inclusion from a disability perspective. It is recommended that the government should facilitate teacher development on inclusive education policies and practices through pre-service and in-service training while workshops should enhance teachers’ holistic understanding of the inclusion of learners in mainstream schools. The government should also elucidate policy documents such as the Education White Paper 6: Special Needs Education: Building an Inclusive Education and Training System, and the Screening, Identification, Assessment, and Support document.https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.22.5.28