Special Education and General Education Teacher Perceptions of Collaborative Teaching Responsibilities and Attitudes Towards an Inclusive Environment in Jordan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate how general and special education instructors perceive their collaborative teaching responsibilities and their attitudes toward inclusive environments. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 300 teachers in accordance with the social interdependence theory and cooperative learning conceptual framework. The survey was composed of two parts. The first section examined collaborative teaching duties for both instructors. It included 29 items and four categories (planning, instruction, evaluation, and behavior management). The second section included 15 items to assess attitudes toward inclusion. The study enrolled a total of 233 teachers (123 in special education and 110 in general education) with a response rate of 78%. The results showed that there was agreement between general and special education on only one of the four domains (instruction). Additionally, special education teachers expressed a more favorable attitude toward inclusion than did general education teachers. The current situation’s implications were explored with an emphasis on the necessity for additional shared practical activities among teachers.

Special education Teachers' attitudes to teaching students with disabilities in the regular school system in the United Arab Emirates

“…Their support is therefore critical to the success of inclusion (Alzyoudi et al., 2022; Fakolade & Adeniyi, 2009; Mouchritsa et al., 2022; Politou, 2022). Teachers must thus identify their attitudes towards students with disabilities so as not to disrupt the latter's work and the success of inclusion (Alabdallat et al., 2021; Mezquita‐Hoyos et al., 2018; Parker, 2009). However, responsible inclusion requires teachers and administrators to learn new skills and accept new roles, which many will resist (Malinen et al., 2012).…”

From pre- and in-service teachers’ asymmetric backgrounds to equal co-teaching: Investigation of a professional learning model

“…Pre-and in-service teachers are not necessarily ready to operate together, do not have the experience, or have not mastered sufficient models to make it work. Permanent co-teaching practices necessitate proper relationship building, which in turn takes time (Rytivaara et al, 2019;Alabdallat et al, 2021;Antinluoma et al, 2021).…”

“…A lack of shared authority and responsibility is considered to impede collaboration, the development of trust, and the effective implementation of teaching, especially in mentor teacher-pre-service teacher relations during teaching practice periods (Baeten and Simons, 2014;Rabin, 2020), but also in different co-teaching settings in schools (Hargreaves, 2002;Pratt, 2014;Jurkowski and Muller, 2018). The development of successful co-teaching practices in which the participants share authority and engage evenly is likely to take a great deal of time and effort, particularly in terms of planning and designing the co-teaching process (Bacharach et al, 2010;Rytivaara et al, 2019;Alabdallat et al, 2021;Antinluoma et al, 2021).…”

Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Parental Involvement in Inclusive Education

“…20, which concerns the rights of people with disabilities in Jordan, expedited IE to all students with disabilities in primary, secondary, and higher education [15]. This legislation was put into practice in 2019, when 150 students with disabilities were enrolled in mainstream public schools which offered reasonable accommodations for their needs [16]. Following this, in 2020 Jordan's Ministry of Education launched the 10-Year Strategy for Inclusive Education (2020)(2021)(2022)(2023)(2024)(2025)(2026)(2027)(2028)(2029)(2030).…”