Barriers of the Inclusion of Children with Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Classes from Pre-service Teachers’ Viewpoints

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the barriers towards inclusion of children identified as having SEN in mainstream classes in Kuwait as seen by 452 pre-service teachers at the College of Basic Education. The researchers used a mixed-methods design that involved both an open-ended questionnaire and focus group. Each method investigated dimensions of the barriers towards inclusion in Kuwait as well as the SEN categories that participants believed would be most or least possible to include in mainstream classes. It was found that there are five different dimensions of possible barriers to inclusion: barriers from teachers, social barriers, academic barriers, physical barriers, and psychological barriers. It also found that the SEN categories seen as most possible to include were: moderate intellectual disability, specific learning disabilities, and giftedness, respectively. On the other hand, the SEN categories seen as least possible to include were: severe needs, severe intellectual disability, and autism. The study suggested that the government should institute new courses to prepare pre-service teachers for the challenges, revealed by this research, which prospective teachers expect to face when teaching in inclusive schools. This could help teachers build up more positive attitudes towards inclusion. Therefore, colleges of education should develop their academic courses so that they take into account the findings of this study and work accordingly Keywords: Inclusion, students with SEN, barriers, Kuwait