Abstract
Over the last two decades the idea of inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN) in general schools has become increasingly the focus of Inclusive education in Cyprus. The passage of new laws mandating school inclusion, the new educational physical education curriculum as well as the attention that has been given to physical education teachers' training, are significant changes towards school inclusion. The aim of this study was to identify the attitudes, and predictors of attitudes, of in service Cypriot secondary school physical education teachers towards the inclusion of students with physical disabilities in general physical education (GPE) classes. The Greek translated version of the questionnaire ATIPDPE-GR (Doulkeridou, Evaggelinou & Kudlacek, 2010) originally developed by Kudlacek, Valkova, Sherrill, Myers and French (2002) was used. The instrument was designed based on the Theory of Planned (TPB) by Ajzen (1991). Statistical analysis included one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Stepwise multiple regression demonstrated the percentage of variability of variance of intention as explained by the Attitude Toward Behavior and Perceived Behavioral Control subscales (R Square = 0,547). The Perceived Behavioral Control had the strongest correlation on intention to include students with physical disabilities in general Physical Education (p < 0.01). The subscale Attitude toward Behavior had the second strongest correlation on intention to include students with physical disabilities in general Physical Education (p < 0.05). In addition, results show no significant difference between females and males towards intention for inclusion.
Highlights
Inclusion is the philosophy that students should be educated together in one classroom instead of separate classrooms designated to meet special needs
“Inclusion is the practice of placing many different kinds of students in general physical education and in this environment general physical education teachers will make the necessary changes in didactics, pedagogy, and curriculum to assure that all students will achieve their physical education goals and feel safe, happy, comfortable, and successful in the physical education setting’’ (Kudlacek, 2001, p. 190)
With regards to the demographic questions, included at the end of the questionnaire, participants replied with the following responses. 87.2% of females and 79.2% of males had personal experiences with individuals with physical disabilities
Summary
Inclusion is the philosophy that students should be educated together in one classroom instead of separate classrooms designated to meet special needs. Inclusion is defined as the education of all children with disabilities (mild to severe) in regular education even if special resources are needed to make it effective (Block & Vogler, 1994). According to Sherrill (2004), exceptions to this practice may include individuals with severe to profound retardation and/or multiple disabilities that would make success in the classroom of a regular school very difficult or impossible. “A least restrictive environment is one in which students with disabilities are educated with their typically developing peers to the maximum extent possible” (Lieberman, James & Ludwa, 2004). Inclusive education provides the opportunity for the cultivation of positive attitudes of students without disabilities toward peers with SEN (Hall, 1994; Mrug & Wallander, 2002; Salisbury, Callucci, Palombaro & Peck, 1995)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
