Alleviating Incivility Through the ‘Sankofa’ Principle in Counselling Students with Special Needs
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57125/FS.2026.09.20.03Keywords:
Counselling, incivility, ‘Sankofa’ principle, students with special educational needs, verbal abuse, bullying, disrespect.Abstract
Incivility is a common phenomenon in many higher education institutions presently. Students with special educational needs, seeking higher learning degrees also experience uncivil acts. This research explored the nature of the incivility incidence, confronting students with special educational needs in a renowned Ghanaian university, with the aim to find a suitable remedy for the problematic menace. A purposively selected convenient sample of twenty students with special educational needs were engaged in in-depth interviews regarding the research focus. The personal focus of the research, aligned with the Interpretive Phenomenological Approach, to analyze the gathered data and induce themes. Findings revealed a high incidence of incivility among students with special educational needs, with acts such as verbal and physical bullying, intimidation and the use of disrespectful behaviours, confronting the target at the research institution. Most of the identified uncivil acts resonated adverse effects with dire consequences on the victims. Appropriate recommendations, including the ‘Sankofa’ principle, integrated with professional counselling sessions, were recommended to restore civility within the entire university setting. The confirmed dreadful effects of the incivility incidence on the lives of victims, urgently called for improved relationships via the use of the ‘Sankofa’ principle among members of the research university community.
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