Exploring positive and negative teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of children with disabilities in schools in Trinidad: implications for teacher education

Author(s):  
Bephyer Parey
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2300
Author(s):  
Constanza San Martin ◽  
Chenda Ramirez ◽  
Rubén Calvo ◽  
Yolanda Muñoz-Martínez ◽  
Umesh Sharma

Teachers play an important role in the success of inclusive practices for diverse learners in regular classrooms. It is, therefore, important to examine their beliefs and preparation to teach in inclusive classrooms. The main purpose of this study was to analyze the attitude of active Chilean teachers (n = 569) towards inclusion, their self-efficacy regarding inclusive practices, and their intention to teach in inclusive classrooms. Our secondary objectives were to explore the relationship between their attitudes and self-efficacy and to determine the influence of demographic and professional variables on these two constructs. A positive and significant relationship between teachers’ attitude and self-efficacy was found. Teacher qualification was not significantly related to attitudes towards inclusion but was negatively associated with their self-efficacy beliefs concerning inclusive practices. Secondary education teachers reported lower teaching efficacy beliefs for inclusion than pre-school, primary, and special education teachers. The type of school emerged as a significant predictor of teachers’ attitude and self-efficacy beliefs. The implications of this research and need for additional teacher and in-service training to improve educators’ attitudes and self-efficacy are discussed.


Author(s):  
Jun (AJ) Ai ◽  
Jihong Zhang ◽  
Eva Horn ◽  
Hao Liu ◽  
Jingjing Huang ◽  
...  

Abstract The purpose of this study was to understand the status and influential factors of preschool teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education, given the evidence that attitudes predict successful inclusion for young children with or at risk for developmental delays or disabilities. We translated the Multidimensional Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education Scale (MATIES, Mahat, 2008) to Simplified Chinese (MATIES-C). We then administered the MATIE-C to a representative sample of in-service preschool teachers (N = 481) in Beijing, China. The confirmative factor analysis and reliability tests suggested an acceptable construct validity and internal reliability of the MATIES-C. We also found preschool teachers in Beijing held positive attitudes towards inclusion across cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of attitudes. The ANOVA results indicate teachers' experience and knowledge about children with disabilities had statistically positive associations with favorable attitudes. Preschool area, teacher age, and educational background were also found to have a statistically significant impact on teacher attitudes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (65) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Nicos C. Sifakis

<span lang="EN-GB">In this paper I discuss the possibilities, opportunities, challenges and (even) perils in applying the ELF-aware perspective in teacher education. I focus on presenting two obstacles in enabling this application, the first related to teachers’ attitudes, which tend to be fundamentally negative, and the second referring to an uncertainty about establishing, applying and evaluating appropriate ELF pedagogy. The obstacles are discussed with reference to examples from my personal experience as teacher educator, and argue (a) that these obstacles are also present in more “traditional” teaching and teacher education practices and (b) that they can be overcome if they are perceived as opportunities for integrating real-life interactions involving non-native English language users in the EFL classroom and prompting EFL teacher reflection and growth.</span>


Author(s):  
Carlos Monge López ◽  
Patricia Gómez Hernández

The main aim of this research is to understand future teachers' attitudes, knowledge and needs about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). These courses are a supplementary resource in Higher Education that can fill fields of knowledge in which the curriculum could not encompass. In addition, these types of courses can contribute significantly to teachers, both in initial and in-service, training. For this reason, the students' perspectives towards MOOCs are essential in these terms. In this way, fundamentally a questionnaire was administered to the students in the Degree in Teaching of Childhood Education, Degree in Teaching of Primary Education, and Masters Degree in Teacher Training of Secondary Education (n=145). The results indicated that a large part of the sample confirmed that they did not know anything about MOOCs. Therefore, Universities need to train competent future teachers in MOOCs culture. This chapter provides insights into the topic of advancing next generation elementary teacher education through digital tools and applications.


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