Abstract
Attitudes of teachers are an important determinant of behaviour in educational settings (Avramidis & Norwich, 2002). The aim of this study was to describe the attitudes and determine predictors of intentions in pre-service teachers in Australia toward inclusion of students with physical disabilities in general physical education classes. The Attitudes Towards Individuals with Physical Disabilities in Physical Education - Revised (ATIPDPE-R) instrument, based upon the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) was used to measure the attitudes of pre-service teachers from first and fourth year primary and physical education courses at a University in Australia. 230 participants, including 177 females, 53 males with an average age of 20.94 years took part in the study. Although no significant differences were found between year groups or subject majors, results found positive attitudes of pre-service teachers towards inclusion (Primary ATT (attitude) mean = 78.41; PE ATT mean = 75.27). Attitudes were found to account for 20% of variance of intentions (r2 = 0.208), and when attitudes, subjective norm and gender were combined, these accounted for 26% of prediction of intention (r2 = 0.258).
Highlights
Australia has a population comprised of approximately 20% of people with disabilities, and this rate is on the increase (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008)
Hodge and colleagues (2004) found that teachers expressed mostly favourable beliefs towards teaching students with disabilities. This current study found that participants held positive attitudes towards including students with physical disabilities into general physical education classes
While there were no significant differences in attitudes between first and fourth year students, or physical education and primary education students, results according to belief statement responses from this research showed that the pre-service teacher participants in this study have generally positive attitudes towards teaching students with physical disabilities in general physical education classes
Summary
Australia has a population comprised of approximately 20% of people with disabilities, and this rate is on the increase (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008). The aim of inclusion is to ensure that all students receive adequate instruction and physical activity without any student’s skills or cognition being negatively affected (Block & Zeman, 1996; Vogler, Koranda & Romance, 2000). This will in turn remove all distinctions between special education and general education and as such will require a restructuring of educational systems in order to provide facilities, resources and support for all students, regardless of their ability level (Konza, 2008). Disability-specific opportunities will be Martin et Kudláček beneficial to many people with disabilities (United Nations, 2006)
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