Attitudes of Teachers Towards Inclusive Education in Finland

Abstract

Positive teacher attitudes are essential for success when children with special educational needs (SEN) are placed into mainstream classrooms. The present study surveyed teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion by using a large national sample and Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusion Scale (TAIS). A total of 1,764 Finnish basic-school teachers participated in the e-mail survey. They included 824 classroom teachers, 575 subject teachers and 365 special-education teachers. The classroom teachers scored below and the subject teachers significantly below, the neutral midpoint of the scale. The special-education teachers’ mean scores were above the midpoint. About 20% of teachers were strong opponents of inclusion, and 8% were strong advocates. The attitudes towards inclusion had only weak associations with variables other than the teacher category. Teachers’ work orientation and self-efficacy had low associations with their attitudes towards inclusion. The results illustrate the attitudinal climate of teachers towards inclusion and indicate the existing potential for policy change.