Israeli Teachers' Attitudes Assessment regarding Parental Involvement of Children with Special Needs

Abstract

Benefits of collaboration between parents and teachers in general and parents of special needs children in particular seem allegedly obvious, but apparently the implementation of this concept in everyday life is rather complex. Interpretations regarding parental involvement (PI) and its applied implications might differ between parents and professionals. A questionnaire aiming to assess teachers' attitudes toward the involvement of parents of children with special needs in the inclusion in Israel was developed, based on three significant areas: teachers' attitudes toward the general implications of PI, toward the role of PI in decision making and toward the communication needed with the parents. 75 statements from various questionnaires were collected and analysed by experts. After this analysis, a pilot phase was performed (i.e. the questionnaire was administered to 58 Israeli teachers). The internal reliability measure was calculated to evaluate the level of correlation between each item belonging to the same dimension. Explorative factor analysis revealed internal dimensions that connect to each other. Finally, a questionnaire with 41 statements was compiled. The construction of the questionnaire is part of more extensive research, during which the reliability and the validity of the instrument will be re-examined on a larger sample of 138 participants.

Designing A Russian – American Teachers’ Training Program In The Field Of Inclusion

“…In Russia in the late XX -early XXI century, a lot of researchers were engaged in theoretical and applied issues of social design and various aspects of inclusion. Some of them focus on their national specifics of teaching children and adults with disabilities (Alaluf et al, 2017;Alias et al, 2012;Bhan, 2012;Drămnescu & Enăchescu, 2016). And some researchers highlight various aspects of rehabilitation programs' design (Chitic & Rusu, 2016).…”