Attitudes of school teachers regarding inclusive education: a cross sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Teacher’s attitude towards inclusive classroom plays an important role in the education of special children. Teachers are acknowledged as the most dominant/influential factor in child inclusion and incorporation towards the education. There is a need for a better understanding of teachers’ perceptions toward inclusion and how the inclusive environment can be improved. Objectives: The main objective of this study is to assess the attitudes of general school teachers towards inclusive education. Methodology: In this cross-sectional study 128 general school teachers from six schools located in Ramdhuni Bhasi Municipality, Sunsari district of Nepal were participated. Teacher’s Attitude Towards Inclusive Classroom (STATIC) Scale questionnaire was used for the data collection. For analysis of the data Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS -V22) was used and the independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA was performed to analyze the result. Result: In this study, finding revealed that, general schools’ teachers hold slightly positive attitudes (53%) towards the inclusive education. Considering overall contribution of each aspects of inclusive education (IE), much positive attitudes was observed on Philosophical issues regarding inclusive education (14.69). Educational status of teacher had shown influence (p value= 0.01) on Logistica Concern related to Inclusive Education (LCOIE). Teachers who completed higher secondary and bachelor’s degree had more positive attitude than the teacher who completed only Secondary Education Examination (SEE). Similarly, Teaching experience had shown influence (p value= 0.04) on Professional aspects related to inclusive education (PrIRIE). Teachers had more positive attitudes with 1-10 years of teaching experience compared to more than 11 years of teaching experiences. Conclusion: Although all the sociodemographic variables which were included in this study, did not show influence on general attitude of teacher towards inclusive education, educational status and years of teaching experience showed influence on teachers’ attitudes. Keywords: Attitudes, Inclusive Education, School teache