Attitudes of preschool and primary school pre-service teachers towards inclusive education

Kraska, Jake Boyle, Christopher

Abstract: Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion are important as they have the primary responsibility of implementing inclusive education. Attitudes at the beginning of teaching careers are likely to predict future attitudes. Some studies show a drop in attitudes after leaving university education. Using the Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Inclusion (Amended) questionnaire, 465 pre-service teachers (located in Victoria, Australia) from primary school and preschool streams were examined to determine the effect of a number of independent factors on Total Inclusion Score; a measure of attitudes towards inclusion. Two-way ANOVAs revealed module (unit) and year of study to be significant factors. A multiple regression showed the factors combined accounted for 10% of the variance in Total Inclusion Score. Participants who had studied a module (unit) on inclusive education or were in later years of study were more positive towards inclusive education based on Total Inclusion Score from the questionnaire. No significant differences for Total Inclusion Score were found between pre-service teachers that study primary school teaching or preschool teaching. It is concluded that studying a module on inclusive education is a particularly important factor in the development of pre-service teacher attitudes towards inclusion. 

Ker words : education policy;inclusion;inclusive education;pre-service teachers preschool primary school;students with disabilities;teacher training

总结：

因为教师对包容教育的义务，所以教师对包容教育的态度很重要。教师的职前态度可能暗示着教师的在以后教学中的态度。一些研究对教师的的大学后的教育进行了一些跟踪研究。用职业态度的量表对465名新教师进行了问卷，并通过两种方式对问卷结果进行分析。研究结果表明，从整个问卷结果来看，在大学里学过包容教育的学生，在工作的时候有个积极的态度，在职前老师和新教师直接虽然没有巨大的差别，但是还是可以看出，是否学过一些包容教育是影响教师专业态度的一个重要原因，对教师的专业发展很重要。

来源:Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education. Jul2014, Vol. 42 Issue 3, p228-246. 19p.