Student and Faculty Perspectives of Inclusive Teaching Practices in Teacher Training Degree Programs (original) (raw)
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Teachers' capacity to create inclusive learning environments
International Journal for Lesson & Learning Studies
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore effects of an intervention designed for teachers' learning. This study investigates the effectiveness of a three-session professional development (PD) program based on the lesson study methodology. Lesson study was chosen as an intervention, attempting to strengthen teachers' awareness of and readiness to teach for student diversity.Design/methodology/approachThis study included 26 participants. The teachers took part in lesson study cycles during a period of four months. Effectiveness was measured using a pre-test/post-test within-subject design. The broad concept of inclusion and the characteristics of the research questions in this study demanded a mix of methods, a design in which qualitative and quantitative data are collected in parallel, analyzed separately and then merged.FindingsResults show an increase of teachers' readiness from baseline to post measurement to adjust the learning environment for increased inclusiv...
Student Teacher Perspectives on Inclusive Education
The purpose of this study is to discover Florida International University student teachers’ perceptions and experiences about inclusive education during their student teaching internship. A total of 271 student teachers (all those enrolled in Spring 06 and Fall 06 student teaching) participated. A mixed methods design was utilized to analyze the impact of participation in a mandatory one-day hands-on seminar related to inclusive education instructional strategies. At the end of their student teaching semester, interns completed a specially designed survey to assess perceptions about their student teaching experience with respect to inclusive education. Differences related to gender, major, linguistic and ethnic diversity, prior experiences with inclusive education, awareness of children with disabilities in their student teaching classrooms, student teacher classroom settings, inclusion strategies implemented by student teachers, attitudes and beliefs about inclusion were identified through Chi Square analyses. Qualitative interviews validated and instantiated the survey results. Implications for action in teacher preparation and further research are discussed.
Attitudes of Teaching Faculty Toward Inclusive Teaching Strategies at a Midwestern University
Proquest Llc, 2012
This study measured postsecondary faculty attitudes toward academic accommodations and an inclusive teaching method called Universal Design for Instruction (UDI). The purpose of the study was to help determine a readiness for change among faculty with regard to implementing UDI principles, compare differences between faculty groups, as well as add to the postsecondary UDI research agenda. UDI requires faculty instructional design and has the potential to reduce the need for individualized academic accommodations and increase the retention and graduation rates of students with disabilities. The study included an online survey e-mailed to 1,621 faculty at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC). Independent variables included: amount of teaching experience, teaching status (i.e., fulltime, part-time), academic discipline, and amount of prior disability-related training. Results showed significant differences among faculty based upon amount of teaching experience, prior disability-related training, and academic discipline. Generally, faculty with more teaching experience and prior disability-related training had more favorable attitudes toward accommodations and UDI concepts. Faculty in the colleges of Applied Sciences and Arts (ASA), Education, and Mass Communication and Media Arts had more favorable attitudes toward multiple means of presentation than the colleges of Science and Liberal Arts. Faculty in the college of Education had more favorable attitudes toward providing accommodations than the college of ASA. The study effectively started a dialogue with SIUC faculty on their willingness to use UDI principles. Overall, faculty reported mostly positive attitudes toward UDI concepts and traditional academic accommodations. Results could be utilized when proceeding with targeted training for faculty on UDI in postsecondary settings.
Post-secondary faculty attitudes toward inclusive teaching strategies
Journal of rehabilitation
The purpose of this study was to measure faculty attitudes toward academic accommodations and the inclusive teaching method labeled Universal Design for Instruction (UDI). Identifying faculty attitudes can determine readiness for organizational change with respect to implementing UDI principles and can be useful when developing training methods or materials by comparing differences between faculty groups. The study utilized an online survey among 1,621 faculty at a medium-sized Midwestern public research University and found significant differences among faculty (N = 381) based on teaching experience, prior disability-related training, and academic discipline. Discussion and implications are provided.
Methodological Strategies of Faculty Members: Moving toward Inclusive Pedagogy in Higher Education
Sustainability, 2021
This study presents findings that can pose an advancement in the development of inclusive teaching practices in the university scope. The aim of this work was to understand the methodological strategies that inclusive faculty members use in their classrooms and the difficulties that they find in the implementation of such strategies. A total of 119 faculty members from different fields of knowledge of 10 Spanish universities participated in this study. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and later analysed using an inductive system of categories and codes with computer software MaxQDA 12. The obtained data show the actions that these faculty members take to interact with their students, the methodologies they use to teach, the strategies they implement to promote their learning and the difficulties that hinder their inclusive practice in the classroom. This study concludes that there are faculty members who are committed to designing teaching projects based on ...
A Brief Taxonomy of Inclusive Pedagogies: What Faculty Can Do Differently to Teach More Inclusively
Headwaters: The Faculty Journal of CSB/SJU, 2017
We provide an overview of our evolving understanding of “inclusivity” in light of faculty development opportunities funded through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. “Inclusivity” means different things to different people, and a given classroom environment may be inclusive in some of the ways described in this article, but not in others. By providing a taxonomy of different ways courses can be inclusive, we encourage departments to think more deeply about curriculum design, learning goals, and assessment; for individual faculty, we encourage you to think about your own course planning and your in-class pedagogical practices.
Teaching, Learning and Inclusive Education: The Challenge of Teachers’ Training for Inclusion
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2013
Diversity in education is reflected in different learning rates, abilities, interests, expectations, needs, and so on and demands appropriate educative attention. This reality justifies the need for teachers training to meet the challenges of achieving success for all the students. For the current study, an ad hoc survey to assess the perceived training needs for promoting inclusion of school teachers was developed. A sample of 200 teachers was utilized. The results showed several perceived training needs in teachers related to issues for participating in the processes of transforming schools into inclusive settings and to inclusive methodologies to be implemented in schools.
Heliyon, 2021
Background: Training in attention to diversity is a key aspect for achieving the inclusion of students with special educational needs in higher education for these students to have access to the same rights as any other student. Aims: To determine, through the perceptions of university professors, if the existence of barriers that arise in the teaching-learning process is determined by various factors of interest such as gender, training in attention to diversity, and, even, the attitudes that the professors present before the inclusion of these students. Methods and procedures: The research was carried out in eight universities in Andalusia (Spain), using as the main method of data collection a validated survey, the APTD Scale (Accessibility, Processes, Training, Demand), with the participating sample of 580 university professors. Outcomes and results: The university professors generally agree to perform inclusive actions in their teaching-learning process, although a significant association between variables. Conclusions and implications: The study includes a series of perceptions that may help other university professors to make their practice more inclusive. What does this paper add? This research's main novelty is to show, through the perceptions of university professors, what factors generate exclusion and how this situation can be reversed. This article analyses the association between the attitudes that professors have regarding the inclusion of students with special educational needs in the university and the inclusive educational processes they use in their teaching-learning process. The continuous training of university professors in inclusive responses and strategies is necessary to not be an obstacle in the development of students with special educational needs as well as the establishment of positive relationship between professors and students. Professors are essential to create and support inclusive processes in the university classroom since they have to respond to the students' needs by making the necessary adjustments in their teaching-learning process, taking into account their abilities, needs, and interests.
Creating and Maintaining Inclusive Classrooms
Forum on Public Policy Online, 2019
Student populations at institutions of higher education are increasingly diverse. To maximize students' feelings of inclusivity and belongingness within heterogeneous communitiesboth of which have been linked with greater educational outcomesit is imperative for faculty to create and maintain inclusive classroom spaces. The aim of this qualitative study is to analyze student feedback regarding what creates a sense of inclusiveness and belonging inside undergraduate classrooms. The researcher conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with students at a diverse, highly selective, private research university in the American South. Interview transcripts were coded using inductive analysis methods. Findings indicate students' self-reported sense of inclusivity and belongingness are predominately within a professor's control. For example, students' senses of belonging increase when faculty members use diverse examples in class, relate course content to the real world, enable small-group discussions during class, model open and inclusive language in the classroom, and eliminate (or mitigate) tokenism. Student feedback was consistent across demographic diversity of respondents.
Toward an Inclusive Teacher Education Program
Journal of Teaching and Learning, 2006
Although definitions of high quality teaching vary considerably, a good teacher capitalizes on the strengths of every student. Yet, novice teachers struggle to identify all students' abilities. Many teachers describe inclusion practices as just another obstacle encountered in the classroom. Scholars seek to identify ways of changing this burden of inclusion mindset to a welcoming/enriching notion aligned with social justice agendas. In this paper, we discuss the need for pre-service teachers to enter the classroom with the disposition to focus on individual strengths and to understand how the diversity of students' abilities and backgrounds contributes to the subjective well-being of the student population.