Pre-Service Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education During Their Studies in Bahrain Teachers College

Abstract

This study explored pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education. The Sentiments, Attitudes, and Concerns about Inclusive Education–Revised (SACIE-R) scale was completed by 138 teacher candidates in a teacher preparation program in Bahrain Teachers College. The findings revealed that candidate teachers needed more opportunities to interact with and teach children with disabilities during their school practicum; they also needed more preparation and knowledge about the educational policies related to these children. Not all the candidate teachers felt confident in their knowledge and skills when dealing with these children. The sentiments of the candidate teachers were generally positive and compassionate to children with disabilities. The attitudes of the candidate teachers were generally positive as well, but there were some apprehensions in regard to including children who show aggressive behavior toward others or those who require communicative technologies in regular classes. The participants had many concerns related to certain aspects of including students with disabilities in the regular classrooms. The findings indicated that there is no significant difference among the study sample in terms of their attitudes, concerns, or sentiments toward inclusion according to the academic year variable (orientation, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, and Year 4) and the specialization variable (no specialization, Cycle 1). There was also a significant negative relationship between level of confidence in teaching students with disabilities and the sentiment aspect, and also with the concerns. There was a significant negative relationship between knowledge of the local policy that relates to children with disabilities and the sentiment aspect.