The attitudes of physical education teachers towards teaching students with disabilities: a qualitative research in Turkey

Abstract

ABSTRACT This qualitative research examines the attitudes of physical education teachers in schools towards people with disabilities using the theory of planned behaviour. Fourteen (eleven male, three female) physical education teachers who work in a province in Turkey and have 6–25 years of teaching experience participated in the study. An interview form with semi-structured questions was used to collect the data for the study. The interviews focused on the in-class attitudes of the participants towards students with disabilities. The data of the study were analyzed thematically. It was determined that most of the participants exhibited negative attitudes towards students with disabilities while teaching them in physical education classes. In addition to the emergence of culture-specific themes, it was observed that even though the participants received adequate support from their administrators and colleagues, they failed to include students with disabilities in their classes through inclusive education philosophy in the field of adapted physical education.