Conceptualising inclusive education: the role of teacher training and teacher's attitudes towards inclusion of children with disabilities in Ethiopia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although there is widespread support for inclusion at a philosophical level, there are some concerns that teachers lack the necessary knowledge and skills to educate students with disability in inclusive classrooms. Utilising a data set of 125 teachers from 3 teacher education institutions and 6 secondary schools in Ethiopia, this study reports the effects of teacher training on understanding inclusive education, teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and their feelings towards students with a disability. The results show that there are two positions reflected in conceptualising inclusive education, i.e. the concept that is placing children with disability in the regular class, while another concept is just providing support to children with disability. This study reports 81–85% of the participants’ positive understanding of the overall purpose of inclusive education. Teachers reported a more positive attitude towards inclusion than those who had negative experiences implementing inclusive pedagogy and working with children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. The main concerns regarding the implementation of inclusive education include very little readiness (62%), inadequate teacher preparation (38%), lack of instructional materials (25%), less attention being paid to teacher preparation for inclusive education (20%), etc. The implications discussed and suggestions made for future studies.