This paper focuses on Greek regular and special preschool teachers' understanding of inclusion; their views about the engagement of children with disabilities in typical day routines/activities; and their preferred strategies for facilitating children's engagement in classroom activities. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 77 teachers (45 regular and 32 special educators) drawn from 47 preschool mainstream settings in Greece. The analysis revealed that teachers hold conflicting and restrictive beliefs about inclusive education. Further, the teachers' accounts indicated that most of the children with disabilities were experiencing significant difficulties in their engagement during free-play as well as structured/semi-structured activities. Lastly, teachers identified a range of strategies that they deployed for promoting children's involvement in classroom activities. The paper concludes by highlighting the need to shift away from a narrow individualistic-deficit assumption of disability towards a socio-constructivist conceptualisation of 'diversity' and the establishment of genuinely inclusive school cultures.
The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of the practices that Greek teachers use to support the inclusion of children with disabilities in general preschools. Fifty-two preschool units for children between 4 and 6 years of age participated in this study. Data were collected through systematic observation with the use of the Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP). Given that the ICP was devised and field tested in the United Kingdom, its applicability to Greece was subsequently explored. Results from descriptive statistics revealed the existence of mainly poor-quality practices. Analysis of the reliability of the scale showed high interrater agreement, while exploration of its structural validity showed that quality was detected as a unidimensional construct consisting of nine items. This article discusses the issue of preschool inclusion quality in Greece, while it contributes to the emergent research on the ICP in relation to its validation in different cultures.
This study investigated differences in experiences of microaggressions between students with different characteristics (type, visibility, severity, and onset of impairment) and associations between the occurrence of microaggressions and specific psychological dimensions, such as stress, depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. It also examined how the afore-mentioned psychological factors and microaggressions contribute to students’ adjustment to university. Eighty-nine (89) university students with disabilities (USwDs) completed a series of six questionnaires: the Ableist Microaggression Scale, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the College Adaptation Questionnaire. University students with visual and mobility impairments reported higher levels of ableist microaggressions than those with medical/chronic conditions, while students with visible impairments seemed to experience more ableist microaggressions than their university peers with non-visible impairments. Microaggressive experiences were found to be associated with increased levels of depression and stress as well as having negative consequences for disabled students’ self-esteem and life satisfaction. Students’ overall adaptation to university was predicted by a high level of life satisfaction, low level of depression, and limited experience of microaggressions related to otherization. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for USwDs’ adjustment.
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