Teacher attitudes towards the inclusion of students with support needs
Saloviita, T. (2020). Teacher attitudes towards the inclusion of students with support needs. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 20(1), 64-73. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-3802.12466
Published in
Journal of Research in Special Educational NeedsAuthors
Date
2020Copyright
© 2019 NASEN
Teachers’ positive attitudes towards inclusive education are a prerequisite for its successful implementation. This study surveyed the attitudes of Finnish classroom, subject, resource room and special education class teachers (N = 4567) towards inclusive education. The results indicated very low support for the concept. Its acceptance was strongly associated with the specific teacher categories and the concern that inclusive placements would cause extra work for teachers. Teachers who were confident in their support networks and had sufficient access to educational resources, such as an in‐classroom teaching assistant, were more positive towards inclusion than other teachers. Attitudinal variables, including self‐efficacy and child‐centredness, and demographic variables, including age and gender, were also associated with attitudes towards inclusion. It is argued that vicious circle exists between resources and teacher attitudes. The negative climate towards inclusion prevents the legislation that would guarantee adequate resources for mainstream teachers who have students with support needs in their classrooms. The lack of legal guarantees, in turn, prevents negative teacher attitudes towards inclusive education from changing. Although the overall progress in inclusive education is tied to the development of cultural values, the promise of more inclusion in schools goes hand‐in‐hand with the availability of adequate resources.
...
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.ISSN Search the Publication Forum
1471-3802Keywords
Publication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/32106788
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
License
Related items
Showing items with similar title or keywords.
-
Japanese in-service teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education and self-efficacy for inclusive practices
Yada, Akie (2015)Although inclusive education has become mainstream in global educational policy, its implementation in national educational policies and in actual practice is often prob-lematic. In Japan, for example, inclusion is relatively ... -
Attitudes of Teachers Towards Inclusive Education in Finland
Saloviita, Timo (Routledge, 2020)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 ... -
Teachers’ Changing Attitudes and Preferences around Inclusive Education
Saloviita, Timo (Routledge, 2020)Inclusive education as an alternative to traditional separate special education has gained recognition since the approval of the Salamanca Statement in 1994. The success of inclusion is considered to be highly dependent ... -
Struggling for inclusive education in Japan and Finland : teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education
Moberg, Sakari; Muta, Etsuko; Korenaga, Kanako; Kuorelahti, Matti; Savolainen, Hannu (Routledge, 2020)The aim of this study was to analyse and compare teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education in two culturally different countries: Finland and Japan. A sample of 362 Finnish and 1518 Japanese teachers participated in ... -
Teachers' attitudes and self-efficacy on implementing inclusive education in Japan and Finland : A comparative study using multi-group structural equation modelling
Yada, Akie; Tolvanen, Asko; Savolainen, Hannu (Pergamon Press, 2018)This study aims to explore relationships between teachers' attitudes, self-efficacy, and background variables regarding inclusive education by using a sample of 359 Japanese and 872 Finnish teachers. A multi-group structural ...