Teachers' Experiences, Attitudes, and Perceptions Towards Early Inclusion in Urban Settings (original) (raw)
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Urban early childhood teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education
Early Child Development and Care, 2011
This study investigated the relationship between urban early childhood teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education and personal characteristics, professional background, and programme context. Questionnaires were completed by teachers (n = 130) who taught preschool children in primarily low-income, urban neighbourhoods. Attitude ratings were slightly above average, suggesting that teachers overall had a moderately positive attitude towards inclusive education. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine potential factors influencing ratings of inclusive education. Results indicated that none of the variables related to personal demographics significantly predicted overall attitude about inclusion. Among variables related to professional background, having had a positive past experience with children with disabilities predicted a positive attitude. The teachers' role within the programme also predicted attitude towards inclusive education, with lead teachers having a more positive attitude than assistant teachers. Implications are discussed for practice as well as for future research.
Voices of American and Israeli Early Childhood Educators on Inclusion
This study examines Israeli and American teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion in early childhood and specifically explores the problems and opportunities concerning inclusion in the United States and Israel that arise in Jewish education. Through semi-structured interviews, four Israeli and three American educators participating in communities of practice were asked to look at themselves and the beliefs that inform their attitudes towards inclusion. The researchers created a qualitative rubric suitable to analyze the interviews from participants. Results indicate that a majority of the teachers voiced support for inclusion of children with special needs but felt tension in implementing an inclusive classroom due to multiple variables. The most challenging issues for the teachers involve lack of efficacy, lack of support, balancing needs of all stakeholders, and family cooperation. The article concludes with recommendations to leaders and policy makers about the needs of teachers to more effectively achieve high quality inclusive classrooms.
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Kuram Ve Uygulamada Egitim Bilimleri, 2014
The purpose of this study is to develop the Inclusion Knowledge Test (IKT) for assessing preschool teachers' knowledge of inclusive practices and to examine its psychometric characteristics. To achieve this purpose, the researchers wrote short stories (vignettes) focusing on the various aspects of inclusive practices, such as assessing the development of children with disabilities, adapting a preschool curriculum, and interacting with families of children with disabilities. Having been evaluated by a panel group consisting of experts who worked in special education fields, all vignettes were reviewed, and necessary adjustment and changes were made. Then the data were collected from the IKT responses of 169 preschool teachers, and validity and reliability studies were carried out. According to the results of the analysis, the IKT consists of 24 items (vignettes) loaded on one factor, and the factor loads of all items were more than .40. Cronbach's Alpha is .917. The findings showed that the preschool teachers have very limited knowledge of inclusive practices, and their IKT scores did not change according to their experience or whether or not they had children with disabilities in their classroom. However, there was a significant difference between the IKT scores of the teachers who had and did not have a special education course during their pre-service training.
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School systems across the United States have integrated students with disabilities into the general education classroom creating an inclusive environment where general and special education students can learn side by side. Within the inclusion classroom, general education and special education teachers collaborate to design and implement instruction for all student learners. Therefore, it is critical to understand the attitudes of general and special education teachers and reveal the factors that influence the beliefs they hold regarding the inclusion classroom. The beliefs held by inclusion teachers are a crucial factor to the success of students with disabilities in the inclusion setting as measured by New York State Regents Exams. An explanatory case study was used to understand the perspectives of the participants, learn about their experiences, and understand individual perceptions within the inclusion setting. General education and special education teachers from an urban high school in New York completed questionnaires and openended interviews discussing their attitudes and beliefs towards inclusion. Using the data, the researcher identified the factors that influenced the development of instruction and the reasons for the decreasing in achievement levels among students with disabilities in the inclusion classroom.
2013
Over the past forty years, schools across the United States have become more inclusive for students with disabilities. However, in many high-poverty urban school districts, a disproportionate number of minority children with disabilities are segregated from their non-disabled peers. This article presents findings from a qualitative case study of one urban school district implementing special education-related inclusion reform over the course of four years. The district had a history of segregating students and numerous compliance issues with special education mandates; however, the arrival of a new superintendent brought new hopes for change. The authors argue that existing research regarding inclusion has typically ignored the policy implementation processes employed by school districts in establishing more inclusive schools and improved special education programs. This article provides a case description of a district’s special education inclusion policy implementation process, the challenges district administrators were confronted with, and the positive and negative outcomes of the district’s policies. The findings inform next-generation policy initiatives and future lines of inquiry.
Creating a Culture of Inclusion in Pre-Kindergarten
Integral Theory and Transdisciplinary Action Research in Education, 2019
The purpose of this study was to understand how beliefs, understandings, and pedagogical practices of early childhood educators affect, and are affected by, their relationships with children, classroom team members, parents, and colleagues, as they create an inclusive culture in a pre-kindergarten classroom. To explore this research problem from multiple perspectives, integral theory was selected as the conceptual framework, and a multi-methods exploratory sequential design was employed using integral methodological pluralism. Data about educational experiences, culture, behaviors, and systems, were collected from five early childhood educators in pre-kindergarten classrooms in four urban schools, followed by a questionnaire of classroom practices, document analysis, and a focus group. Findings revealed that important factors for creating an inclusive classroom culture included: early childhood educators' positive beliefs toward inclusion; a social constructivist theoretical per...
Problems, Expectations, and Suggestions of Elementary Teachers Regarding Inclusion
Educational Sciences Theory and Practice, 2013
The purpose of the present study is to display a detailed investigation of the views of the elementary teachers in the specification of defections in the inclusive education applications and in the evaluation of success. In accordance with this aim, in 16 different cities of Turkey, 23 teachers who have been working in schools where inclusive education is applied in relation with Ministry of Education and who have willingly participated to the study are interviewed. In the study, where descriptive method from among the qualitative research methods is used, inductive analysis of the research data gathered with semi-structured interviews is conducted through Nvivo 8 qualitative data analysis program. The findings indicate that elementary teachers generally have a negative opinion regarding the inclusive education applications in our country, that they are inadequate in this subject and need a great deal of sustenance particularly expert support, that they find pre-service and in-service training insufficient and experience problems due to the physical conditions of the classrooms and schools they work at. For the improvement of inclusive education applications, elementary teachers suggest the presence of separate teaching environments and part-time inclusive education, the organization of qualified and effective pre-service and in-service training and providing them material support.
The needs of inclusive preschool teachers about inclusive practices
2014
Since the law related to the inclusion of children with special needs was passed, the number of children with special needs in preschool classrooms has increased each year. Preschool teachers face serious challenges when they teach children with diverse abilities in the same environment. Although most of them support the idea of preschool inclusion, preschool teachers usually do not want children with special needs in their classrooms because of their lack of knowledge and skills regarding inclusive practices. It has been established that teachers are the most important component of inclusion, and in order to increase the success of inclusive practices, they should be prepared to teach in heterogeneous classrooms that include children with and without disabilities. To develop and implement an effective and functional training program for inclusive preschool classroom teachers, we aimed to thoroughly examine the needs of preschool teachers with regard to supporting the development of children with disabilities in their classes. In the first part of our study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 teachers, and in the second part, in-depth interviews were held with four of the teachers from the first group. All of the teachers who participated in this study had one or more children with special needs in their classrooms. After completion of the interviews, the data from the two groups were analyzed separately. The analyses of both groups of data indicated that teachers mainly needed knowledge, skills, experience, and support when assessing the performance of children with special needs, working with their parents, preparing individualized education programs (IEPs), adapting and modifying their curriculum, and dealing with behavioral problems. To make preschool inclusion successful and to have special needs children gain the expected benefits, teachers need to be provided with functional teacher training programs that foster positive attitudes and provide them with a meaningful experience. If preschool teachers in Turkey had access to these types of programs in both pre-service and in-service education, the quality of preschool inclusion would improve immensely.
2020
Abstract: Education in early childhood is considered fundamental. Many developing countries reported having a low level of inclusion rate, and this level is even smaller when it comes to children with special needs. Moreover, the philosophy of inclusion and best practices for ensuring the success of inclusive education are not fully understood by preschool teachers. This study aimed at exploring how preschool teachers understand inclusive education in a system that is undergoing transition and faces significant challenges overall. It also tends to describe not only what they know but also how they feel and believe about the process of including children in the quality educational system, same for all. Another issue was also to find out what are the challenges teachers face and how do they see the future of inclusive education in early childhood. Ten experienced preschool teachers from different places of Kosovo were interviewed using semi-structured in-depth interviews. The results indicate that teachers have a common understanding of inclusion, but they lack proper skills and knowledge on adequate teaching methods to work with children with special needs. However, they see inclusion to be an essential process and an excellent opportunity for all children. They recommend investments and