Teachers` attitudes towards inclusive education

Actitudes de los docentes acerca de la educación inclusiva

Angenscheidt Bidegain, Leticia - Navarrete Antola, Ignacio
Detalles Bibliográficos
2017
inclusion
attitudes
inclusive education
preschool
elementary education
inclusión
actitudes
educación inclusiva
enseñanza inicial
educación primaria
Español
Universidad Católica del Uruguay
LIBERI
https://revistas.ucu.edu.uy/index.php/cienciaspsicologicas/article/view/1500
https://hdl.handle.net/10895/3007
Acceso abierto
Resumen:
Sumario:The first aim of this study is to describe the attitudes of preschool and elementary school teachers from a private school in Montevideo towards inclusive education. Attitude is defined as a set of perceptions, beliefs, positive and negative feelings, and ways of reacting to an educational process in which the main focus is for all learners to achieve learning outcomes. The second aim is to analyze whether these attitudes depend on a teacher’s position, academic background, contact with people with disabilities, educational stage, and years of professional experience. The study had a cross-sectional, descriptive design and utilized the Inclusive Education Opinion Scale instrument. Attitudes were assessed using a 23-item instrument with five response levels on a Likert-type Attitude Scale. The study worked with a non-probability sample of 44 English and Spanish teachers. The results demonstrated positive attitudes towards the foundations of inclusive education and towards inclusive practices. Additionally, the results reflect that Spanish language teachers have more positive attitudes towards the foundations of inclusive education compared to their English language colleagues. Furthermore, more experienced teachers were found to have more positive attitudes towards inclusive measures and practices. No statistically significant differences were found between teachers’ attitudes and the educational stage taught.