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PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS PERCEPTIONS OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
Pearl Subban
and
Umesh Sharma
Monash University
This article reports the findings of a study designed to explore the perceptions of primary school teachers toward the inclusion of students with disabilities into general education classrooms in Victoria, Australia. Specifically, the study investigated the relationship between particular demographic factors and teachers attitudes toward and concerns about inclusive education. Participants included 122 teachers from primary schools around Victoria. The ATIES, Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education Scale ADDIN EN.CITE Wilczenski19922080Wilczenski, F.L.1992Measuring Attitudes Toward Inclusive EducationPsychology in the schools.291306-312(Wilczenski, 1992), and the CIES, Concerns about Inclusive Education Scale ADDIN EN.CITE Sharma20021530Sharma, U.Desai, I.2002Measuring Concerns about Integrated Education in India.Asia & Pacific Journal on Disability512-14(Sharma & Desai, 2002), were utilized to determine participants attitudes and their level of concern about the inclusion of students with disabilities into mainstream settings. Participants who reported having undertaken training in special education were found to hold more positive attitudes and to experience lowered levels of concern, about implementing inclusive education. In addition, participants with a family member with a disability, and those who possessed some knowledge of the Disability Discrimination Act (1992) exhibited more positive attitudes toward including students with disabilities, while participants with a close friend with a disability and those who felt more confident about their roles as inclusive educators, experienced fewer concerns about implementing inclusive education.
Recent international and national legislation has cast increasing spotlight on the philosophies of inclusion and inclusive schooling. Grounded in UNESCOs education policy, adopted at the Salamanca Conference in 1994 ADDIN EN.CITE UNESCO199426831UNESCO1994The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs EducationSalamanca, SpainWorld Conference on Special Needs Education : Access and Quality(UNESCO, 1994), inclusive education is progressively being accepted as an effectual means by which biased attitudes towards students with disabilities may be reduced. The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action establishes the prerogative to education of every individual, as a basic human right, regardless of individual differences ADDIN EN.CITE UNESCO199426831UNESCO1994The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs EducationSalamanca, SpainWorld Conference on Special Needs Education : Access and Quality(UNESCO, 1994). Further, international focus, through the Education For All initiative arising from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children (1989), the 1990 Jomtien Declaration and the World Summit on Children, has revealed a commitment on the part of world leaders to set targets which will increase the number of children who attend school and will also focus on the education of marginalized groups ADDIN EN.CITE United Nations Organisation198926931United Nations Organisation,1989Convention on the Rights of the ChildResolution 44/25 of the General AssemblyGenevaUnited Nations Organisation(United Nations Organisation, 1989). These international developments have impacted on national policies and practice.
The philosophy of inclusive education in Australia has followed international trends, with the continent accepting the challenge to educate all students, in mainstream settings, in an equitable manner ADDIN EN.CITE Forlin19971510Forlin, C.1997Inclusive Education in AustraliaSpecial Education Perspectives6121-26(Forlin, 1997). The Disability Discrimination Act (1992) has been a significant national policy change with regard to inclusive education. A recent initiative by the Federal Government, the Draft Disability Standards for Education, further amends the DDA and increases opportunities for students with disabilities to be educated in mainstream schools ADDIN EN.CITE Commonwealth of Australia200429416Commonwealth of Australia,2004Draft Disability Standards for EducationAttorney Generals Department9 December 2004www.ag.gov.au/DSFE(Commonwealth of Australia, 2004).
As a state, Victoria is viewed as a strong and active advocate for inclusive education ADDIN EN.CITE Forlin19971510Forlin, C.1997Inclusive Education in AustraliaSpecial Education Perspectives6121-26(Forlin, 1997). Significant developments to implement inclusive education in Victoria have been influenced by a number of policy initiatives that included The Ministerial Report of Educational Services for the Disabled (1984), The Cullen-Brown Report (1993) and more recently, the Blueprint for Government Schools in Victoria (2003). These initiatives have highlighted the need for every student to be educated in their neighborhood school. Recommendations arising from these moves further empowered parents of students with disabilities and improved options for such students within regular classrooms ADDIN EN.CITE Department of Education and Training Victoria200326016Department of Education and Training Victoria,2003Blueprint for Government Schools18 March 2004websitewww.deet.vic.gov.au/deet/resources/blueprint.htmDepartment of Education Victoria198427110Department of Education Victoria,1984Report of the ministerial review of educational services for the disabled : Integration in Victorian education.MelbourneGovernment Printer(Department of Education and Training Victoria, 2003b; Department of Education Victoria, 1984). These initiatives have resulted in a significant increase in the number of students with disabilities being educated in mainstream schools ADDIN EN.CITE Hurley19952723Hurley, A.1995Integration in Victorian EducationAustralian Association for Research in Education(Hurley, 1995).
Inclusive education has profound implications for educators in mainstream settings as they face increased pressure to perform to a wider set of roles than in previous generations ADDIN EN.CITE Knight19991430Knight, B.A.1999Towards inclusion of students with special educational needs in the regular classroom.Support for Learning1413-7Avramidis20002280Avramidis, E.Bayliss, P.Burden, R2000A survey into mainstream teachers' attitudes towards the inclusion of children with special educational needs in the ordinary school in one local education authority.Educational Psychology202191-121(Avramidis, Bayliss, & Burden, 2000; Knight, 1999). Teachers in inclusive schools are now expected to rise to the challenge of an increasingly diverse classroom ADDIN EN.CITE Peterson19921000Peterson, M.Beloin, K.S.1992Teaching the inclusive teacher : Restructuring the mainstreaming course in teacher education.Teacher Education and Special Education214306-318(Peterson & Beloin, 1992), adjust their teaching strategies to accommodate varying learning styles ADDIN EN.CITE Kortman20012743Kortman, W.2001The indispensable role of special education.Australian Association of Special EducationMelbourne(Kortman, 2001), and to be psychologically and practically prepared to take on the dynamic role of inclusive educator ADDIN EN.CITE Mullen20011410Mullen, C.A.2001Disabilities awareness and the preservice teacher : a blueprint of a mentoring intervention.Journal of Education for Teaching27139-61h(Mullen, 2001). With teachers being viewed as the primary agents in the implementation of the philosophy of inclusive education ADDIN EN.CITE Haskell20001600Haskell, D.H.2000Building bridges between science and special education.Electronic Journal of Science Education.43Cant1994390Cant, H.1994Inclusive education. The Alberta ExperiencePractising Administrator16338-41Whiting19951203Whiting,M.Young, J.1995Integration : Social justice for teachers.Australian Association for Research in Education Conference.Hobart, Tasmaniawww.aare.edu.au/95pap/whitm95.129(Cant, 1994; Haskell, 2000; Whiting & Young, 1995), their perceptions about the evolving inclusive classroom must be borne in mind ADDIN EN.CITE Whiting19951203Whiting,M.Young, J.1995Integration : Social justice for teachers.Australian Association for Research in Education Conference.Hobart, Tasmaniawww.aare.edu.au/95pap/whitm95.129(Whiting & Young, 1995), as it is likely that these perceptions may influence their behavior toward and their acceptance of students with disabilities ADDIN EN.CITE Hammond20032350Hammond, H.Ingalls, L.2003Teachers attitudes toward inclusion : Survey results from elementary school teachers in three Southwestern rural school districts.Rural Special Education Quarterley22224-30(Hammond & Ingalls, 2003). Further, the attitudes of mainstream educators may have some bearing on the success of inclusive educational programs ADDIN EN.CITE Van Reusen20012270Van Reusen, A.K.Shoho, A.R.Barker, K.S.2001High school teacher attitudes toward inclusionThe High School Journal8427-17(Van Reusen, Shoho, & Barker, 2001).
Teachers Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education
Previous research in this field links demographic and contextual variables to teachers attitudes towards inclusive education ADDIN EN.CITE Avramidis20002280Avramidis, E.Bayliss, P.Burden, R2000A survey into mainstream teachers' attitudes towards the inclusion of children with special educational needs in the ordinary school in one local education authority.Educational Psychology202191-121Van Reusen20012270Van Reusen, A.K.Shoho, A.R.Barker, K.S.2001High school teacher attitudes toward inclusionThe High School Journal8427-17Harvey1992680Harvey, D.H.P1992Integration in Victoria : teacher attitudes after six years of no choice policy.International Journal of Disability, Development and Education.3933-45(Avramidis et al., 2000; Harvey, 1992; Van Reusen et al., 2001). Variables such as the teachers gender ADDIN EN.CITE Avramidis20002280Avramidis, E.Bayliss, P.Burden, R2000A survey into mainstream teachers' attitudes towards the inclusion of children with special educational needs in the ordinary school in one local education authority.Educational Psychology202191-121Van Reusen20012270Van Reusen, A.K.Shoho, A.R.Barker, K.S.2001High school teacher attitudes toward inclusionThe High School Journal8427-17(Avramidis et al., 2000; Van Reusen et al., 2001), age ADDIN EN.CITE Cornoldi19981490Cornoldi, C.Terreni, A.Scruggs, T.E.Mastropieri, M. A.1998Teacher Attitudes in Italy After Twenty Years of Inclusion.Remedial and Special Education.196350-356(Cornoldi, Terreni, Scruggs, & Mastropieri, 1998), level of qualification in special education ADDIN EN.CITE Clayton19961710Clayton, M.1996Clearing the way for inclusion : A response to Thorley, Hotchkis and MartinSpecial Education Perspectives5239-44(Clayton, 1996) and the severity of the students disability ADDIN EN.CITE Agran20022670Agran, M.Alper, S.Wehmeyer, M.2002Access to the general curriculum for students with significant disabilities : What it means to teachers.Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities372123-133Kuester20002533Kuester, V.M.200010 years on : Have teacher attitudes toward the inclusion of students with disabilities changed?International Special Education ConferenceLondon(Agran, Alper, & Wehmeyer, 2002; Kuester, 2000), have previously been investigated as factors that may shape teachers attitudes toward the inclusion of students with disabilities.
It would appear that older, more experienced teachers appear to foster less positive attitudes than younger teachers ADDIN EN.CITE Cornoldi19981490Cornoldi, C.Terreni, A.Scruggs, T.E.Mastropieri, M. A.1998Teacher Attitudes in Italy After Twenty Years of Inclusion.Remedial and Special Education.196350-356(Cornoldi et al., 1998). In addition, the lack of training in the field of inclusive or special education may lead to less positive attitudes towards the inclusion of students with disabilities into mainstream settings ADDIN EN.CITE Clayton19961710Clayton, M.1996Clearing the way for inclusion : A response to Thorley, Hotchkis and MartinSpecial Education Perspectives5239-44Menlove20011630Menlove, R.R.Hudson, P.J.Suter, D.2001A field of IEP dreams : Increasing general education teacher participation in the IEP development process.Teaching Exceptional Children33528-33(Clayton, 1996; Menlove, Hudson, & Suter, 2001), while increased training has been associated with more positive attitudes in this regard ADDIN EN.CITE Briggs20022460Briggs, J.D.Johnson, W.E.Shepherd, D.L.Sedbrook, S.R.2002Teacher Attitudes and Attributes concerning Disabilities.Academic Exchange Quarterley6285-89Harvey1985670Harvey, D.H.P1985Mainstreaming : teachers attitudes when they have no choice about the matter.Exceptional Children32163-173Powers20021020Powers, S.2002From concepts to practice in deaf education.Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education73230-243(Briggs, Johnson, Shepherd, & Sedbrook, 2002; Harvey, 1985; Powers, 2002).
Another cited variable makes reference to the perceived confidence of mainstream educators. Teachers who perceive themselves as confident enough to include students with disabilities appear to hold more positive attitudes toward inclusive education ADDIN EN.CITE Avramidis20002280Avramidis, E.Bayliss, P.Burden, R2000A survey into mainstream teachers' attitudes towards the inclusion of children with special educational needs in the ordinary school in one local education authority.Educational Psychology202191-121(Avramidis et al., 2000). In addition, previous experience educating students with disabilities may allow the mainstream teacher to view inclusive educational practices more positively ADDIN EN.CITE Avramidis20002280Avramidis, E.Bayliss, P.Burden, R2000A survey into mainstream teachers' attitudes towards the inclusion of children with special educational needs in the ordinary school in one local education authority.Educational Psychology202191-121(Avramidis et al., 2000). However, the nature of such experience may alter perceptions, negative encounters are viewed as reinforcing negative perceptions, as positive experiences result in more favourable perceptions ADDIN EN.CITE Lampropoulou19972330Lampropoulou, V.Padelliadu, S.1997Teachers of the Deaf as compared with other groups of Teachers : Attitudes toward people with disability and inclusion.American Annals of the Deaf14212633(Lampropoulou & Padelliadu, 1997). The teachers attitude towards the inclusion of students with disabilities into mainstream settings may be also influenced by the severity of the disability experienced by such students ADDIN EN.CITE Kuester20002533Kuester, V.M.200010 years on : Have teacher attitudes toward the inclusion of students with disabilities changed?International Special Education ConferenceLondonAgran20022670Agran, M.Alper, S.Wehmeyer, M.2002Access to the general curriculum for students with significant disabilities : What it means to teachers.Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities372123-133(Agran et al., 2002; Kuester, 2000). The inclusion of students with behavioural and emotional disorders appear to attract the least favourable responses from mainstream educators ADDIN EN.CITE Kuester20002533Kuester, V.M.200010 years on : Have teacher attitudes toward the inclusion of students with disabilities changed?International Special Education ConferenceLondonAgran20022670Agran, M.Alper, S.Wehmeyer, M.2002Access to the general curriculum for students with significant disabilities : What it means to teachers.Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities372123-133(Agran et al., 2002; Kuester, 2000).
However, factors such as the impact of presiding legislation and the teachers perceived level of competence on attitudes toward inclusion, continue to be areas requiring consideration. Specifically, in Australia, the influence of teachers knowledge of the Disability Discrimination Act (1992), and the consequent impact this may have on their attitudes toward inclusive trends, remains a factor to be probed.
Teachers Concerns About Inclusive Education
Teachers view the inclusion of students with disabilities into mainstream settings as difficult and stressful ADDIN EN.CITE Whiting19951203Whiting,M.Young, J.1995Integration : Social justice for teachers.Australian Association for Research in Education Conference.Hobart, Tasmaniawww.aare.edu.au/95pap/whitm95.129(Whiting & Young, 1995). The need for collaboration with several support staff has resulted in tension and confusion ADDIN EN.CITE Cant1994390Cant, H.1994Inclusive education. The Alberta ExperiencePractising Administrator16338-41(Cant, 1994). Further, the inclusion of students with disabilities into regular classrooms is viewed by some educators as contributing to increased workloads ADDIN EN.CITE Daane20001620Daane, C.J.Beirne-Smith, M.Latham, D.2000Administrators' and Teachers' Perceptions of the Collaborative Efforts of Inclusion in the Elementary Grades.Education1212331-338Menlove20011630Menlove, R.R.Hudson, P.J.Suter, D.2001A field of IEP dreams : Increasing general education teacher participation in the IEP development process.Teaching Exceptional Children33528-33(Daane, Beirne-Smith, & Latham, 2000; Menlove et al., 2001). Moreover, teachers appear to be concerned about the non-acceptance of such students by their non-disabled peers ADDIN EN.CITE Daane20001620Daane, C.J.Beirne-Smith, M.Latham, D.2000Administrators' and Teachers' Perceptions of the Collaborative Efforts of Inclusion in the Elementary Grades.Education1212331-338(Daane et al., 2000). There have also been fears that the dynamics within inclusive settings may impact on the academic progress of non-disabled students ADDIN EN.CITE Forlin19981670Forlin, C.1998Inside four wallsAustralian Journal of Special Education22296-106(Forlin, 1998).
Research records that mainstream educators are apprehensive about meeting the individual needs of students with disabilities, of the risk of social stigmas being attached to such students in inclusive settings, of the availability and supply of resources to assist in the implementation of inclusionary programs ADDIN EN.CITE Bradshaw19981770Bradshaw, K.1998The Integration of Children with Behaviour Disorders.Australasian Journal of Special Education212115-123(Bradshaw, 1998) , the level of preparedness experienced by teachers through training, the access to funding to support students with disabilities within mainstream settings ADDIN EN.CITE Clayton19961710Clayton, M.1996Clearing the way for inclusion : A response to Thorley, Hotchkis and MartinSpecial Education Perspectives5239-44(Clayton, 1996), and the perceived lack of support from the administrative personnel at schools to support inclusive programs ADDIN EN.CITE Daane20001620Daane, C.J.Beirne-Smith, M.Latham, D.2000Administrators' and Teachers' Perceptions of the Collaborative Efforts of Inclusion in the Elementary Grades.Education1212331-338Hammond20032350Hammond, H.Ingalls, L.2003Teachers attitudes toward inclusion : Survey results from elementary school teachers in three Southwestern rural school districts.Rural Special Education Quarterley22224-30(Daane et al., 2000; Hammond & Ingalls, 2003).
The rationale for this study emanated from the dearth of studies within the last decade, based in the State of Victoria, which investigate teachers attitudes toward the implementation of inclusive education in mainstream schools. Australian studies with a similar focus, have been conducted in other states and territories including Western Australia ADDIN EN.CITE Forlin19981670Forlin, C.1998Inside four wallsAustralian Journal of Special Education22296-106(Forlin, 1998), Queensland ADDIN EN.CITE Whiting19951203Whiting,M.Young, J.1995Integration : Social justice for teachers.Australian Association for Research in Education Conference.Hobart, Tasmaniawww.aare.edu.au/95pap/whitm95.129(Whiting & Young, 1995) and New South Wales ADDIN EN.CITE Bradshaw19981770Bradshaw, K.1998The Integration of Children with Behaviour Disorders.Australasian Journal of Special Education212115-123(Bradshaw, 1998). It would appear prudent to consider the attitudes of Victorian teachers as there have been several initiatives by the State Education Department to address the education of marginalized groups in recent years ADDIN EN.CITE Department of Education and Training Victoria200326016Department of Education and Training Victoria,2003Blueprint for Government Schools18 March 2004websitewww.deet.vic.gov.au/deet/resources/blueprint.htm(Department of Education and Training Victoria, 2003b).
Additionally, teachers attitudes and concerns toward the implementation of inclusive education have not been considered in the light of policy change including the provisions of the Educational Standards of the Disability Discrimination Act (1992). The Educational Standards, introduced in 2005, amends the Disability Discrimination Act (1992), and appears to mandate inclusive education. The main provisions of the Standards, involve a clarification of terminology and definitions surrounding the educational opportunities for students with disabilities. Further, it strengthens the idea that educational providers develop strategies to cater for the education of students with disabilities within mainstream settings. In the light of these changes, this study considers both teachers attitudes toward and their concerns about inclusive education, the latter component has not been an area of investigation in previous research.
This study attempts to explore the perceptions of mainstream educators toward the philosophy of inclusive education, in Victoria, Australia. The study is driven by the following research objectives:
To consider the attitudes of teachers toward the inclusion of students with disabilities into regular classrooms.
To examine the relationship between teachers attitudes and the selected demographic variables.
To identify the degree of concern teachers may experience toward the inclusion of students with disabilities into their classrooms.
To investigate the relationship between teachers concerns and the selected demographic variables.
Method
Participants
As, the purpose of the study was to determine teachers attitudes toward inclusive education, the participants for this study were drawn from teachers working in state primary schools in Victoria. In keeping with guidelines set out by Monash University, permission with regard to ethical considerations was sought from the Department of Education, Victoria and the Standing Committee on Ethics for Research involving Humans (SCERH).
There are 1631 state schools in Victoria operating under 9 regional education departments, and 21740 state primary school teachers ADDIN EN.CITE Department of Education and Training Victoria200329116Department of Education and Training Victoria,2003www.sofweb.vic.gov.edu.au(Department of Education and Training Victoria, 2003a). This number includes all general education, special education and casual relief teachers. Due to privacy and confidentiality regulations, it is difficult to obtain names and numbers of teachers at individual schools, directly from the Department of Education. In order to ensure a representative sample of teachers in state primary schools, a simple cluster sampling technique was used. A table of random numbers was used to select 50 schools from an alphabetical list, obtained from the Department of Education website ADDIN EN.CITE Department of Education and Training Victoria200329116Department of Education and Training Victoria,2003www.sofweb.vic.gov.edu.au(Department of Education and Training Victoria, 2003a), providing an equal chance to any school in the region to be selected ADDIN EN.CITE Krathwohl19982121Krathwohl, D.R.1998Methods of Educational and Social Science Research. An Integrated Approach.New YorkLongman(Krathwohl, 1998). Using the established sampling frame, numbers were assigned to each school. Numbers were then randomly selected, producing a potential list of elements for the representative sample ADDIN EN.CITE Babbie19902171Babbie, E1990Survey Research MethodsBelmontWadsworth Publishing Company(Babbie, 1990).
Letters were sent to principals of the selected schools, requesting permission to conduct the study at the school, and also requesting information about the number of teaching staff at each school. Using the figures provided by the principal, packages of questionnaires concordant to the number of teaching personnel in the school, were dispatched. The consenting principal of each selected school was requested to distribute these to volunteering teachers on his staff. Once teachers had completed individual questionnaires, they were asked to return the same using the enclosed self-addressed stamped envelope. A total of 250 questionnaires were mailed to primary schools around Victoria. One hundred and twenty-two questionnaires were returned, rendering a return rate of 48%. No follow-up was conducted on non-responses due to time and privacy constraints.
Instrumentation
A three-part questionnaire was used to collect data from participants. The first section was designed to gather selected demographic details of the participants. The second section, the Attitudes toward Inclusive Education Scale (ATIES), developed by Wilczenski (1992), contained 16 items, and was designed to elicit participants attitudes toward the inclusion of students with disabilities into regular classes. Previous studies support the premise that ATIES is a reliable instrument to measure teacher attitudes towards inclusive education ADDIN EN.CITE Pasierb19942140Pasierb, P.L.1994Promoting Positive Attitudes toward Inclusive Education : Insights and Interventions.Unpublished DEd ThesesSeton Hall UniversityWilczenski19952090Wilczenski, F.L.1995Development of a Scale to Measure Attitudes toward Inclusive EducationEducational and Psychological Measurement552291-299(Pasierb, 1994; Wilczenski, 1995). Respondents had to react to sixteen statements, rating their responses on a Likert-type classification, with 1 indicating Strong Disagreement, while 6 indicated Strong Agreement ADDIN EN.CITE Wilczenski19922080Wilczenski, F.L.1992Measuring Attitudes Toward Inclusive EducationPsychology in the schools.291306-312(Wilczenski, 1992). An individual teachers score on the ATIES could range from 16, an indication of the least favorable attitude to the inclusion of students with disabilities, to 96, which indicated the most favorable attitude to such inclusion ADDIN EN.CITE Wilczenski19922080Wilczenski, F.L.1992Measuring Attitudes Toward Inclusive EducationPsychology in the schools.291306-312(Wilczenski, 1992).
The third section, which explored teachers concerns regarding the inclusion of students with disabilities into mainstream settings, was developed by Sharma and Desai (2002). The Concerns about Inclusive Education scale (CIE), contained 21 items and was designed to establish teachers concerns regarding the inclusion of students with disabilities into regular classrooms. The results of the studies by Sharma and Desai (2002) and by Sharma, Ee and Desai (2003), showed that the CIE scale is a valid and reliable means to assess concerns of teachers about inclusive education. Each concern is worded as a single statement, tagged by a Likert-type classification, with responses varying from Extremely Concerned (4) to Not Concerned at All (1) ADDIN EN.CITE Sharma20021530Sharma, U.Desai, I.2002Measuring Concerns about Integrated Education in India.Asia & Pacific Journal on Disability512-14(Sharma & Desai, 2002). A teachers composite score on the CIES, could range from 21 to 84. This score is obtained by adding all the responses for each item. A higher score reflects a higher degree of concern regarding the inclusion of students with disabilities into mainstream classes while a low score may reflect lower levels of concern. The coefficient alpha for the total scale was 0.91, indicating that the scale has good internal consistency.
Results and Discussion
Of the respondents, 44 (36%) were male (refer to Table 4.1). This approximates the figures produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics regarding teachers in Victoria, which indicates that female teachers outnumber male teachers by a ratio of 2.1:1 ADDIN EN.CITE AusStats200222131AusStats2002Australian social trendsMelbourneAustralian Bureau of Statistics(AusStats, 2002). The mean age of respondents was 40.8 years, with the mode of 46 years. Twenty-seven (22%) of respondents indicated that they had a family member with a disability and twenty-nine (24%) indicated having a close friend with a disability. Forty-eight (39%) of survey respondents indicated that they had undertaken prior training focusing on the education of students with disabilities. One hundred and fifteen (94%) of survey respondents had previous experience in the education of students with disabilities.
Table 1
The Demographics of Study Participants
Demographic FactorsRespondent SubgroupsTotalPercentageN=122GenderMales
Females44
7836
64Age20-30
31-40
41-50
51-6018
41
49
1415
34
40
11QualificationsUndergraduates
Graduate Diploma/Post Grad
Masters Degree
68
47
7
56
39
5
Family Member with DisabilityYes
No27
9522
78Close Friend with a DisabilityYes
No29
9224
76Training focusing on the Education of Students with DisabilitiesYes
No48
7439
61Knowledge of Disability Discrimination Act of 1992 Very Good
Good
Average
Poor
Nil2
20
56
31
131
16
47
25
11Level of Confidence in teaching Students with DisabilitiesVery High
High
Average
Low
Very Low6
37
61
16
25
30
50
14
1Previous teaching experience of students with disabilitiesYes
No
Non Response115
6
194
5
1
Research Objective One : Teachers Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education
The mean score on the ATIES for the sample was 4.25, with the mode = 5.00 (SD= .97). With the mean lying above 4 (Agree Somewhat), it suggests that participants in this study generally held positive attitudes toward the inclusion of students with disabilities into regular settings. However, some noteworthy results emerged when scores on the individual items on the ATIES were examined (refer to Table 2). Item 12 (M = 3.51) scored the lowest mean on the ATIES, giving the impression that teachers have less favorable attitudes toward including students with behavioral and emotional disorders. This suggests that teachers attitudes are least favorable when attempting to include students who pose discipline problems and who may potentially disrupt classroom activities. Further, students who may require modified programs and individualized management plans also appeared to attract a less favorable response.
In this regard, previous studies support the view that teachers perceive students with emotional and behavioral disorders as more confronting in the classroom, and most mainstream teachers believe that they lack the skill, knowledge and competence to effectively include these students ADDIN EN.CITE Avramidis20002280Avramidis, E.Bayliss, P.Burden, R2000A survey into mainstream teachers' attitudes towards the inclusion of children with special educational needs in the ordinary school in one local education authority.Educational Psychology202191-121(Avramidis et al., 2000). It is also evident that teachers are reluctant to include students with emotional and behavioral disorders ADDIN EN.CITE Dempsey1997490Dempsey, I.Foreman, P.1997Trends in the educational placement of students with disabilities in NSW.International Journal of Disability, Development and Education.443207-216(Dempsey & Foreman, 1997), while preferring to include students with learning disabilities ADDIN EN.CITE Briggs20022460Briggs, J.D.Johnson, W.E.Shepherd, D.L.Sedbrook, S.R.2002Teacher Attitudes and Attributes concerning Disabilities.Academic Exchange Quarterley6285-89(Briggs et al., 2002). Test Item 4, relating to the inclusion of students who are shy and withdrawn scored the highest mean (M=4.98), signifying a more favorable attitude by mainstream teachers who are attempting to include all students into regular classes. The hierarchy of scores obtained by respondents on the ATIES, further suggests that teachers are more willing to include students who present with speech and language disorders than they are to include students with physical disabilities.
Table 2.
Ascending Mean Scores Per Scale Items on ATIES
Test ItemsNMeanSD12Students who cannot control their behavior 122 3.51 1.502Students who are physically aggressive 122 3.56 1.5515Students who do not follow rules for conduct1223.821.508Students who are verbally aggressive1223.971.3614Students who cannot hear conversational speech1224.021.3013Students who need individualized programs1224.111.281Students whose achievement is two years below their peers1224.121.343Students who cannot move without help1224.191.3110Students who need training in self-help skills1224.241.2811Students who use sign language or communication boards1224.271.237Students who use Braille1224.281.3216Students who are frequently absent1224.571.219Students who have difficulty expressing themselves1224.701.116Students whose speech is difficult to understand1224.721.205Students whose achievement is one year below their peers 1224.98.964Students who are shy and withdrawn1224.98.95
Research Objective Two : The Relationship between Demographic Variables and Teachers Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education
Of the variables investigated in this study, it was observable that prior training in the field of special education, having a family member or close friend with a disability, possessing a good knowledge of the legislation surrounding the education of students with disabilities and possessing a high degree of confidence contributed to more positive attitudes toward the i n c l u s i v e e d u c a t i o n .
S i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s ( F = 9 . 5 4 , p <