Future Mathematics Teachers’ Perceptions towards Inclusion in Secondary Education: University of Granada

Abstract

Designing and implementing inclusive practices is considered one of the basic actions for the construction of inclusive education. Actions depend largely on teachers’ attitudes, which can be modified by the training they receive. This study analyzes 73 future mathematics teachers’ perceptions of the diversity training received in the Master in Compulsory Secondary Education and Post-Secondary, Vocational Training and Language Teaching (MAES), as well as their attitudes towards diversity at the University of Granada (Spain). The participants’ ages ranged from 22 to 50 years (M = 27.12, SD = 6.45); 47.9% were cisgender women and 52.1% were cisgender men. This research was a non-experimental, descriptive, and multivariate study, developed under the assumption of the quantitative methodological paradigm. The result revealed that attention to diversity should play an important role in the teachers’ future teaching practice. Nevertheless, they were dissatisfied with the initial training received, considered themselves not qualified enough to face diversity in their classrooms, and they had an ambivalent attitude toward attention to diversity. However, attitudes and educational levels were more favorable in the case of women, older participants, and among those who had had contact with people with SNES. It is concluded that it is appropriate to continue to influence the attitudes in relation to this issue, since pedagogical training on the factors that condition the teaching–learning process in terms of attention to diversity provides greater effectiveness in this field.

Reflexiones sobre la inclusión educativa: un reto en la formación inicial de docentes de ciencias naturales

“…Las prácticas pedagógicas reflexivas y críticas son necesarias para atender la inclusión, por lo que es necesario propiciar espacios que promuevan la discusión y la construcción de comprensiones sobre la realidad. La formación docente constituye el pilar fundamental para alcanzar la equidad, por lo tanto, se deben generar experiencias educativas que posibiliten el desarrollo de aprendizajes, habilidades, valores y emociones que faciliten trabajar en pro de la diversidad (Crisol-Moya et al, 2023, Marave-Vivas et al, 2022, Soares y Soares, 2021, Figueroa-Varela y Corvalán, 2019, Arias et al, 2023.…”

Addressing Language Diversity in Early Years Mathematics: Proposed Classroom Practices through a Live Brief Assessment

“…More specifically, the content of the module is mostly filtered through the dominant policy rhetoric (i.e., EAL), possibly leading students to see language diversity as a special need that is often classified in the same group with dyslexia and dyscalculia, for example. This might indicate that some Initial Teacher Education curricula may not be utilising research-informed practices effectively to address diversity [66] or may include very limited, if any, content to prepare prospective teachers in this regard [14,67]. Furthermore, while university tutors have no control over the specific content of the Live Brief assessment, it would be valuable to dedicate some time to explore the topic once it has been finalized by local schools.…”