Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab. This triangulation of data sources increased the match between the emergent themes, which related to the research questions: What are the factors that influence teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion, and how were teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion demonstrated by their behaviors in the classroom? Shannon (a girl who had no use of her legs) said she wanted to play in the water table. The emergent themes from each of the two inservice teachers were compared and contrasted to identify similarities and differences in the themes. Furthermore, parents usually prefer a relationship with the lead teachers whom they view as the decision-makers in the classroom. They both felt they were flexible in meeting the students’ individual needs by following the interests/needs of the children when planning activities in the classroom. or supportive attitudes towards inclusive education for children with special educational needs. As indicated, multiple data sources supported each identified theme for all of the participants. This result is in line with previous studies that show that teachers involved in the education and inclusion of children with ASD are usually favourably engaged [4 1. For the preservice teachers, the observations were conducted during their 6-week lead teaching time frame during student teaching. However, more opportunities could be provided to preservice teachers for interacting with parents in a variety of situations. inclusion, compensate for any insecurities, and improve educational professionals’ attitudes towards having students wit h a variety of disabilities in the general education classroom (Soodak et al., p. 493). Overall, the study shows a predominantly positive view of teachers’ expectations regarding the education of pupils with ASD, their own ability to influence their development, and their relationships with the families. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16(3), 277-93. At the same time, children without disabilities are more aware of differences between people and display more comfort around a person with a disability (Staub & Peck, 1994). The Sentiments, Attitudes, and Concerns about Inclusive Education–Revised (SACIE-R) scale was completed by 138 teacher candidates in a teacher preparation program in Bahrain Teachers College. To address this need, the authors have developed the Teacher Attitudes Toward Inclusion Scale (TATIS), an instrument that is built around three well-researched components of teacher attitudes toward inclusive teaching: (a) Attitudes toward students with disabilities in inclusive settings, (b) Beliefs about professional roles and responsibilities, and (c) Beliefs about the efficacy of inclusion. Abstract. While the preservice teachers could verbalize how to plan by meeting individual child needs, it was not demonstrated fully by their actions in the classroom. They spoke of families in their interviews, and how they felt that positive relationships with families are important in a successful inclusive classroom. Inclusion is considered best practice in early childhood education, and it is a philosophy and practice that will continue into the future. Student grade level and severity of disability have been found to influence teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion. Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education Teachers’ attitude toward inclusive education must be studied to identify deficiencies within the education system, which may create negative perceptions. In general, teachers develop positive attitudes toward inclusion, however, they express their concerns, which originates from the insufficient training and the lack of appropriate material for the education of students with disabilities [ 50]. Nell felt that she had opportunities to be involved with families as she was invited to go on home visits, attend a parent meeting hosted by the parent coordinator, and sit in on IEP meetings. Teacher attitudes appear to be influenced by previous experiences in inclusive classrooms. There was a notable difference between the two preservice teachers’ use of resources and personnel. Inclusion is not a soft process. From this analysis, a description of each of the four teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion evolved based on the comparison of responses (initial interviews and follow-up interviews) and behaviors (observations and field notes). Planning for the developmental needs of children is a part of the cognitive component of attitudes (Stoneman, 1993) in that the teachers are cognitively aware of the individual goals for the children and therefore plan for them. In the climate of inclusion, teacher attitudes towards children and young people with special educational needs are highly relevant. Specifically, each data source was examined, analyzed, and categorized according to individual participants. Specifically it addresses the importance of preschool teachers' attitudes as the human environment factor that may facilitate inclusion of children with disability, and teachers' major concerns about environmental accommodations that inclusion implies. Additionally, there are a limited number of studies that address the relationship between inservice and preservice teachers' positive attitudes toward inclusion as implemented in the classroom. We can call and say, “Please come by and look at this child. Based on such common belief, a great deal of research has sought to examine teachers’ attitudes towards the general philosophy of inclusion, while exploring factors that might influence their attitudes. Fourth, another method used to increase reliability of the information in this case study was to maintain a chain of evidence. The results indicated very low support for the concept. Over the past decade the fields of early childhood (EC) and early childhood special education (ECSE) have advocated including children with and without disabilities in the same classroom (DEC, 1994; Bredekamp & Copple, 1997). For example, students could shadow a therapist or other resource person for a short period of time during one of the courses. The preservice teachers also need assistance in using the child's informal assessment to plan activities for children without disabilities. Although teachers have positive attitudes towards inclusion, the majority of general education teachers identify not having enough materials, preparation time, support in the classrooms, appropriate ongoing training and in-service, or sufficient pre-service education and training as barriers. They used a variety of strategies when planning individually for children with and without disabilities. The beliefs and attitudes of teachers are an important element in the development of inclusive education and its associated practices. Objective: Teachers' attitudes toward inclusion are often based on the practical implementation of inclusive education rather than a specific ideology and understanding of inclusiveness. All participants (preservice and inservice) were currently working in inclusive classrooms in the prekindergarten program of the state's public school system. Guiding statements were used to help identify possible factors related to the teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion. education teachers continue to collaborate to meet the needs of students with disabilities in and outside both of their classrooms. The next step included an across-case analysis to present a composite picture of the inservice and preservice teachers' attitudes toward inclusion (Yin, 1994). These open-ended statements allowed the participants to talk about the issues and areas that were most important to them. The themes, (a) children with and without disabilities were involved in the classroom activities, (b) teacher attitudes appeared to be influenced by experiences in inclusive classrooms, (c) teachers addressed children's individual needs in the classroom activities, (d) teachers facilitated family involvement, and (e) resources and personnel were available in the classroom, were supported by multiple data sources that demonstrated that the teachers’ positive attitudes toward inclusion were reflected in their behaviors in the inclusive classroom. The teacher-training program, in which the participants were enrolled or from which they had graduated, was an integrated early childhood and early childhood special education program with inclusive practica and knowledge-based information on children with and without disabilities. 3 0 obj %���� In addition to their classroom experiences, they also felt the inservice training for the B-K license provided specific knowledge of strategies for working with children with disabilities, which they were able to implement in their classrooms. In addition, they demonstrated their positive attitudes toward working with families in a number of ways (e.g., home visits, parent calendars). Miller and Stayton (1996), and Proctor and Niemeyer (2001) provide research to support that integrated teacher-training programs that provide specific strategies in coursework and inclusive practica enhance the teacher's positive attitude toward inclusion. Because the teachers facilitated the children’s participation in the same activities and encouraged the development of relationships among the children, they created an accepting environment in the classroom. Implications are discussed for teacher education programs in training preservice professionals to work with children with disabilities and providing appropriate practica experiences in inclusive environments. Then, based upon the responses to the statements, more probing questions were asked. In most instances the teachers were asked about specific circumstances that occurred during the observation, and each teacher expanded on her actions when requested. This study addresses teachers' attitudes toward inclusion and how those attitudes are reflected in their behaviors in the classroom. The field notes from the observations were then analyzed to obtain clarity on the events that surrounded the teachers’ behaviors (Kleinman & Coop, 1993). This means that all children in this study participated fully in the program and were included in all classroom activities. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. In an interview the preservice teacher Nell described her inclusive classroom:"All children are able to go to any center, it all mixes up." Therefore, this program's focus is important to consider when facilitating or formulating the attitudes of teachers in early childhood inclusive classrooms. For preservice teachers, the type of coursework (especially specific strategies for working with children who have disabilities) and practica (direct experiences with children who have disabilities) are important in forming positive attitudes toward inclusion (Miller & Stayton, 1996; Proctor & Niemeyer, 2001). This study surveyed the attitudes of Finnish classroom, subject, resource room and special education class teachers (N = 4567) towards inclusive education. ]l��{}݄ZV'[�I�1��! Rebecca Martínez, Impact of a graduate class on attitudes toward inclusion, perceived teaching efficacy and knowledge about adapting instruction for children with disabilities in inclusive settings, Teacher Development, 10.1080/13664530300200215, 7, 3, (473-494), (2003). During one observation, while the children were waiting for lunch, Tom (a child with a disability) gave Tina a hug, which she returned and then smiled at him (observation). Teacher attitudes generally have a significant impact on the student educational outcomes [1], [2], [7], [8]. This study also concludes that Most of the Bangladeshi secondary school teachers had positive feelings about the inclusion of such children in the mainstream classes. She felt that sometimes you have to make modifications for children with differing abilities, but it was worth the effort. For the inservice teachers in this study, both prior knowledge and classroom experience contributed to their positive attitude toward inclusion. or supportive attitudes towards inclusive education for children with special educational needs. In the climate of inclusion, teacher attitudes towards children and young people with special educational needs are highly relevant. The data were examined, categorized, and consolidated using the evidence from all four data sources (Yin, 1994). This study examined teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion and how their attitudes were reflected by their behaviors in the classroom. Evidence supports that to be effective, teachers need an understanding of best practices in teaching and of adapted instruction for SWD; but positive attitudes toward inclusion are also among the most important for creating an inclusive classroom that works (Savage & Erten, 2015). Both of the inservice teachers expressed the importance of parent/family involvement and felt they had a good rapport with parents. Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine. Previous research on teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion focused individually on either inservice or preservice teachers. Consequently, it is important to examine those factors in inservice and preservice programs that facilitate a teacher’s development of positive attitudes toward inclusion. Their views are supported by research conducted by Miller and Stayton (1996) and Proctor and Niemeyer (2001), who conclude that specific strategies for working with children with disabilities and fieldwork in inclusive programs influence preservice teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion. For example, grade level, subject area or type of inclusion practice (full or partial). Inclusive education has become a cornerstone of many government policies in an increasing number of countries, yet teachers have been found to hold mixed attitudes towards its implementation and usefulness. Figure 1 illustrates this data analysis process. I knew nothing about it. The following themes were identified: (a) Children with and without disabilities were involved in the classroom activities, (b) teachers’ attitudes appear to be influenced by experiences in inclusive classrooms, (c) teachers addressed children's individual needs in the classroom activities, (d) teachers facilitated family involvement, and (e) resources and personnel were available in the classroom. First, triangulation of the data included the comparison of different data sources (initial interviews, observations, field notes, and follow-up interviews) to verify themes across all sources (Guba & Lincoln, 1981). A … For this study, interviews, observations, and field notes were used to examine the three components of attitudes: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. Typically, physiological measures are used when examining affective elements and this type of measurement was not used in this study. Abstract. This study makes a contribution to the field of early childhood teacher education, but future studies are recommended to conduct more involved and in-depth inquiries with inservice and preservice teachers, especially to examine other factors that may contribute to the success of inclusive classrooms. Teachers with a positive attitude toward inclusion provided all of their students with significantly more practice attempts, at a higher level of success. Based on Western studies, several factors influence Nell said, "I have been trying to get in touch with the lady … that we had in class [at the university] before" (interview). The results suggest that teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion appear to be influenced by their previous experiences in inclusive classrooms, and that the teachers implemented inclusive practices by involving all children in classroom activities, including those with disabilities. 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