Pre-service Secondary Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Inclusive Education

The attitudes held by pre-service teachers have been shown to affect their willingness and ability to implement an inclusive approach to education. A sample consisting of 193 pre-service secondary teachers enrolled in secondary education courses at an Australian university were surveyed to determine their attitudes towards inclusive education, with a particular focus on attitudinal changes across the years of study. Results indicated that pre-service secondary teachers held positive attitudes towards inclusive education; however there was a significant decline in positive attitudes through the years of study. Pre-service secondary teachers enrolled in postgraduate programs were more inclusive than those enrolled in undergraduate courses. Attitudes towards training and perceived competence were less positive than other attitude scales for all participants, suggesting a concern regarding training effectiveness. Replication of the study is recommended across additional Australian and international universities to determine differences in training content and experiences which may impact on attitudes towards training and perceived competence. Teachers play a fundamental role in implementing an open and inclusive environment for all children in the classroom. Secondary education teachers have been described as less positive towards inclusive education than teachers of younger children (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2001; Ross-Hill, 2009). It has been suggested that this may be attributed to a resultscentred pedagogy in secondary schools, rather than the child-centred pedagogy more commonly found in primary and preschools (Nind & Wearmouth, 2006; Pearce & Forlin, 2005). As teachers-in-training, it is essential that pre-service secondary teachers maintain a positive attitude towards inclusive education in secondary schools. Bandura (1986) suggested that individuals pursue activities and situations where they feel competent, and it follows that positive attitudes are associated with feelings of competency through training (Jung, 2007). For pre-service teachers, self-efficacy, or the belief in one’s ability to be successful, has been demonstrated to improve with specific training for inclusive education (Leyser, Zeiger, & Romi, 2011). This study will consider the attitudes of pre-service secondary teachers towards inclusive education, with a particular interest in attitudinal changes across the years of study, and the impact of training for inclusion. Education in Australia has undergone many changes over the last century. During the period of the 1940s to 1970s, many special schools were established to provide education for children with disabilities (Forlin, 2006). During that period, education in a mainstream school was not available to children with disabilities, leaving education in a segregated special school the only option for children with special education needs, other than nonattendance (Thomazet, 2009). Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol 38, 4, April 2013 130 Through the 1970s to the early 1990s, a gradual change in policies led to the establishment of special education units within the confines of mainstream schools, and the opportunity for children with disabilities to be involved in mainstream classes (Disability Services Australia, 2011). The practice in this period became known as integration, with a focus on the geographical location of where the education was provided rather than a focus on providing an inclusive education for all children (Thomazet, 2009). Another change that developed throughout this period was a growing interest towards the possibility of educating children with special needs in mainstream classrooms (Zigmond, Kloo, & Volonino, 2009). A significant policy change occurred with the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act (Commonwealth Government, 1992) which made it illegal for Australian schools to refuse admission to any child on the basis of disability excepting where unjustifiable hardship could be demonstrated by the school. The first international movements toward a more inclusive approach to education occurred in the United States and Italy (Cornoldi, Terreni, Scruggs, & Mastropieri, 1998). In 1994, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) conducted a conference in Salamanca, Spain, to discuss access and equality in special needs education (UNESCO, 1994). A key principle in the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action, of which Australia was a signatory, was the concept that inclusion should not be limited to only children with special education needs, and should consider all individual differences. Avramidis and Norwich (2002) described inclusive education as the process of restructuring mainstream schools with the aim of all schools to be able to accommodate all children, regardless of disability or special education needs. Several researchers have suggested that the concept of inclusive education is more involved than providing education for all children within the classroom, and is related to the much larger concept of social inclusion and valued status for all people in society irrespective of differences or disability (Forbes, 2007; Forlin, 2006; Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2001; Thomazet, 2009; Zoniou-Sideri & Vlachou, 2006). It has also been suggested that an inclusive approach to education is beneficial for all children, and the rewards of an inclusive environment are not limited to children with special education needs (Nind & Wearmouth, 2006). Teacher attitudes have been found to be highly related to successful inclusive education (Avramidis & Norwich, 2002). Teachers who hold positive and open attitudes towards creating an environment of inclusion for all students in the classroom, irrespective of differences or disabilities, were found to have been more successful in implementing inclusive practices (Avramidis, Bayliss, & Burden, 2000). Research by Pearce (2009a, 2009b) suggested that maintaining a positive attitude towards inclusive education was even more important than either knowledge or skills. This was supported in a review conducted by Boyle, Scriven, Durning and Downes (2011), who added that a positive attitude towards inclusive education was even more important than school resourcing, as it was the teacher who had to implement the inclusive practices. Pearce (2009a) also highlighted the importance of pre-service teacher training, noting that more positive attitudes were held by those teachers who had been prepared in their pre-service teacher training to teach all children, compared with those that had not been prepared and trained to teach a diverse classroom. Several studies have considered teachers’ attitudinal changes towards inclusive education over years of experience (Forlin, 1995; Leyser, Kapperman, & Keller, 1994). Generally, teachers with more experience indicated less positive attitudes towards inclusive education. Boyle, Topping, and Jindal-Snape (In Press) surveyed the attitudes of secondary teachers and found that while attitudes towards inclusion were positive, there was a significant decline in positive attitudes after the first year of teaching. Professional Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol 38, 4, April 2013 131 competency has been identified as an area of significant concern for teachers tasked to implement inclusive education (Forlin, Keen, & Barrett, 2008). For improvement in attitudes towards inclusive education to occur, it has been suggested that ongoing professional training for existing teachers is necessary, as well as further development in pre-service teacher training for more inclusive practices (Forlin, 2010b). A study by Lambe and Bones (2006) found that attitudes of pre-service teachers towards the philosophy of inclusive education were generally positive, with more than 80% of participants believing that all teachers should experience teaching children with special education needs. However there was a marked concern about training and preparation. Specifically, almost half of the participants felt that they did not have adequate experience to work effectively with students with special education needs, and more than half felt that they did not have the skills to teach in an inclusive setting. The attitudes of pre-service teachers towards inclusive education have been shown to be a significant predictor for future implementation of inclusive education (Sze, 2009). All of the studies reviewed by Sze considered pre-service teachers as a single cohort, without any consideration for changes that may occur across the years of study. Pre-service teacher training for inclusive education has been shown to be an effective method for improving attitudes towards inclusive education (Forlin, 2010a). A study conducted by Loreman, Forlin and Sharma (2007) into attitudes before and after training for inclusive education found that training was successful in improving attitudes. Further research compared methods of training between several Australian and international universities was unable to determine whether a specific training module was more effective at improving attitudes and knowledge about inclusive education than an infusion approach, which incorporated elements of inclusive education into several modules (Sharma, Forlin, & Loreman, 2008). Not all researchers agree that attitudes towards inclusive education are improved through training. Hastings and Oakford (2003) found that training was not a significant factor for attitudes towards inclusive education, and that attitudes were determined by types of disabilities, with less inclusive attitudes held towards children with behavioural and emotional difficulties than those with learning disabilities. A limitation to categorising disabilities in this manner was that many pre-service teachers may not have had any personal experiences or specific training with children in either or both categories, and attitudes may be indicative of stereotypes in the absence of personal experience or specific training. A recent study by Forlin and Chambers (2011) found that while attitudes towards inclusive education were improved through training and knowledge, pre-service teachers’ concerns and perceived stress about the implementation of inclusive education were not improved. The aim of the current study was to investigate the attitudes of pre-service secondary teachers towards inclusive education through the years of study, and to determine the effects of training for inclusive education. This study was completed as an element of a larger project, which considered early childhood and primary pre-service teachers in addition to secondary pre-service teachers. The complete data set for all pre-service teachers was utilised for the purposes of identifying grouped variables in the survey tool. It was hypothesised that pre-service secondary teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education would change over the years of study. Specifically, it was expected that as preservice teachers undertake study and training for inclusive education, scores on a measure of attitudes towards inclusive education would improve, and pre-service teachers at a third or fourth year of study would be more positive towards inclusive education than those preservice teachers in the first or second year of study. It was hypothesised that effective training in inclusive education would be reflected in an increased ability to define inclusive education. As pre-service teachers progress through their years of study, it would be expected that their understanding of and ability to Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol 38, 4, April 2013 132 define inclusion would improve, and that an improved ability to define inclusion would also result in more positive scores on a measure of attitudes towards inclusive education.