Preparing for the inclusive classroom: changing teachers’ attitudes and knowledge

Abstract

India's educational policy on inclusive education for students with disabilities is in sync with general global developments. Especially in the last couple of years there have been significant legislative achievements towards this endeavour. However, the implementation of inclusive education remains elusive. Besides this, teachers' preparedness for inclusion has received little attention. This survey study had two aims. Firstly, we aimed at finding or constructing a reliable instrument to measure three aspects: the attitudes, knowledge about disability and inclusive teaching methods of regular schoolteachers. Secondly, we aimed to describe the outcomes of the three aspects. For attitudes and teaching methods we found a reliable instrument, which was selected for the usage in this study. We constructed and assessed the reliability of a scale in measuring knowledge about four disabilities: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, intellectual disability and autistic spectrum disorder in pilot and main studies. The results revealed that teachers hold neutral attitudes towards inclusive education. Their knowledge about disabilities, however, was low, but knowledge about inclusive teaching methods was acceptable, which was a significant finding. The practical implications for preparing teachers to work towards inclusion are also discussed.

Teachers’ perceptions and attitudes on the inclusive education of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): A literature review

“…It is worrying that the majority of primary school teachers appeared to have poor knowledge about autistic children (Geraldina, 2015), were not prepared to teach autistic children in their classroom (Cramer, 2014;Low et al, 2017;Pervin, 2016;Razali et al, 2013) and felt inadequate in both teaching and dealing with students with autism (Akgul, 2012;Toran et al, 2016). Furthermore, teachers expressed neutral attitudes towards the inclusion of students with autism in general education classrooms (Engstrand & Roll-Pettersson, 2012;Srivastava et al, 2017a), whereas special education teachers, who taught students with autism, had low to moderate levels of knowledge regarding autism, as well as low to moderately effective teaching practices for their students (Hendricks, 2011). Finally, in-service, preservice, and future teachers had no (or limited) knowledge as well as basic misconceptions about autism and the needs of students with autism in inclusive education classes (Ayub et al, 2017;Barned et al, 2011;Finch et al, 2013;Johnson et al, 2012;Rakap et al, 2016;Yasar & Cronin, 2014;Young et al, 2017).…”

“…their effectiveness) was reported as being limited, but teachers did state that they were actively aware of the need to socially integrate such pupils into the ordinary school environment. Srivastava et al (2017a) carried out a study in India, in which they studied the attitudes of 115 teachers from private regular primary schools in Jaipur city. They examined the attitudes and knowledge about disability and inclusive teaching methods of regular schoolteachers.…”

Teaching Models for Children With Moderate Intellectual Disabilities During Covid-19 Pandemic

“…There are several different approaches that parents should take when carrying out learning at home for children with intellectual disabilities. Parents should cooperate with the school to follow directions, make changes, and adjust to identify the resources at home for activities at home and daily study (Srivastava, de Boer, & Pijl, 2017). Indeed, being a parent of a child with intellectual disabilities during the Covid-19 is not easy.…”

La Preparación de los Maestros para Estimular la Socialización De los Educandos con Autismo en Condiciones de Inclusión

“…En este sentido, Calvo (2013) menciona que hay muchos aspectos por resolver en la preparación de los maestros que continúa anquilosada a la pedagogía convencional y no cuenta con los recursos necesarios para responder de manera adecuada a las problemáticas y desafíos que se presentan en las escuelas inclusivas. Desde esta perspectiva se considera relevante proveer más oportunidades de capacitación que ayuden a los maestros a sentirse más capaces de cumplir con su encargo pedagógico, así como también impulsar durante su formación inicial la participación en ambientes educativos inclusivos (Adams et al, 2017;Srivastava, et al, 2017;Strong, 2014).…”

“…Con lo dicho hasta aquí, es posible apuntar que la preparación que posean los maestros para trabajar con educandos con TEA, es un aspecto esencial que les permitirá interactuar con sus problemas cognitivos, emocionales y volitivos y encauzar de manera eficiente y eficaz los estímulos educativos necesarios para potenciar su socialización (Anglim et al, 2018;Chen et al, 2017;Soto-Chodiman et al, 2012). Sin embargo, la mayoría de los estudios se centra en el componente actitudinal (Garcés & Zambrano, 2018;Garrad et al, 2018;Low et al, 2018;Srivastava et al, 2017), pero hay relativamente poca investigación centrada en la preparación de los maestros entendiéndola como el resultado global de un proceso que está en constante transformación en un amplio escenario de colaboración grupal (Castillo, 2004). En este sentido, la preparación de los maestros puede determinar sus interacciones diarias con los estudiantes con TEA, así como también con sus padres y provocar un impacto en los mismos (Chung et al, 2015;Lozic, 2014).…”