Factors related to teachers' attitudes towards the inclusive education of students with severe intellectual disabilities in Riyadh, Saudi

Abstract

In Saudi Arabia, the majority of students with severe intellectual disabilities are still educated in special schools that do not meet their unique needs for interaction with their typically developing peers in public schools settings where they could improve social, communication and academic skills. One of the most significant obstacles to inclusion of this group of students is teachers' perspectives regarding inclusive education for this category of students. As a result, this study examined teachers' perspectives regarding the inclusion of students with severe intellectual disabilities using a quantitative approach. In addition, this study also examined the relationship between teachers' perspectives regarding the inclusion of students with severe intellectual disabilities and current teaching position, training, teacher's levels of education, previous teaching experience with any kind of disabilities in inclusive settings, grade level being taught, teacher's gender and whether they have a family member with a disability. Three hundred and three teachers responded to the Opinions Relative to inclusion of Students with Disabilities (ORI: Arabic version) survey, including 161 males and 139 females, and three non‐specified gender. A two‐way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), a one‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and an independent t‐test were used to answer the research questions. The findings of the study indicate that teachers have slightly negative perspectives towards the inclusive education of students with severe intellectual disabilities. Significant factors regarding teachers' perspectives towards the inclusion of this group of students included their current teaching position, previous teaching experience with students who had any kind of disability in inclusive settings and the teacher's gender.

Attitudes of Teachers Towards Inclusive Education in Finland

“…As to the effect of gender, at least 10 studies found no difference between male and female teachers (e.g., Avramidis, Bayliss, & Burden, 2000;Chhabra, Srivastava, & Srivastava, 2010). About the same number of studies has shown that female teachers feel more positively towards inclusion than male teachers (e.g., Alghazo & Naggar Gaad, 2004;Alquraini, 2012;Bowman, 1986). Only two studies, both conducted with high school teachers, found that male teachers felt more positively toward inclusion than female teachers (Bhatnagar & Das, 2014;Ernst & Rogers, 2009).…”

Actitudes y formación docente hacia la inclusión en Educación Secundaria Obligatoria

“…En ella se integran profesores con niveles, especialidades y tradiciones muy diversas, produciéndose un distanciamiento entre las culturas profesionales, lo que dificulta el trabajo interdisciplinar y en equipo entre docentes (Gimeno e Imbernón, 2006). Por ello, la actitud del docente constituye un factor determinante para el éxito de dichas políticas inclusivas (Díaz, 2002;Artavia, 2005;Moreno, Rodríguez, Saldaña y Aguilera, 2006;Giraudo, 2007;Moliner, 2008;Anton, 2008;Alquraini, 2012;Ahmmed, Sharma y Deppeler, 2012). La revisión de la literatura indica cómo la mayoría de los profesores apoyan la inclusión, aunque su convencimiento disminuye cuando estos deben implicarse en el proceso.…”

Teachers’ Preparedness for Activity in the Context of Inclusive Practice

“…The purposeful formation of a teacher's willingness of inclusive practice creates conditions for the development of a human positive value and meaningful basis for professional activity implementation (Alquraini (2012), ).…”