A comparative study of attitudes of pre-service general educators and special educatorstowards inclusive education
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Date
2016
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UMT.Lahore
Abstract
This study compares the attitudes of pre-service special education teacher and general education teachers towards inclusive education. The ultimate objective of this study was to measure the attitudes of pre-service educators enrolled in different teacher training programs in public sector universities of Lahore. Sample of 729 pre-service educators from two public universities were selected: 403 general educators and 325 special educators. A two part survey instrument was used to collect data. Section one was about general demographic information about each participant, it included 12 variables related to the participant. Section two consisted of the Attitudes towards Inclusive Education Scale (ATIES) (Wilczenski, 1992). It is a 16-item scale that measures the attitudes of respondents towards the inclusion of children with social, physical, academic and behavioral difficulties in mainstream classrooms, where each item is rated on a 6 point-Likert type classification from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). This instrument was validated from experts of the field and then pilot tested on 60 pre-service teachers. The reliability of instrument was found as 0.80. The instrument was field tested on 729 pre-service teachers from different campuses and affiliated institutes of two selected public sector universities.
The difference in the attitudes of general and special educators on the basis of their specialization, universities, institutes, gender, family disability, disability in close relations, confidence in teaching, experience in teaching, any previous special training, and knowledge about Punjab Free and Compulsory education Bill 2014, was calculated.
In the light of conclusions, attitudes of majority pre-service educators are positive towards inclusion of students with special needs. The demographic variables which have significant impact on the attitudes of pre-service educators are area of specialization, gender, family disability, of disability in close relations, special training, Punjab free and compulsory education bill, 2014 and age, So, as the age increases the attitudes are more positive towards inclusive education. It is recommended that administrators of the teachers training institutes can consider for the inclusion in their programs. More institutions should examine practical experiences regarding inclusive education in the more positive and encouraging environments for the students to exhibit success. Further, researches should be conduct about the inclusion of students with special needs and regarding this topic.
This country will face real change with the implementation of educational policy and recommendations. Media should conduct TV compaign program about inclusive, vocational and other type of education for awareness of the community, to change the thinking, views and attitudes of society.