Disabilities In Inclusive Classrooms Research Articles

Dialoguing with developmentally appropriate practice (DAP): what does DAP mean for children with disabilities and inclusion?

ABSTRACT This paper employs critical discourse analysis to examine the conceptualisation of disability within Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) and to investigate how DAP addresses the role of early childhood educators working with children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. The research questions guiding this study are: 1) How is disability conceptualised within the DAP? 2) How does DAP address the role of educators when working with children with disabilities in the context of inclusion? Using different models of disability and DisCrit as the theoretical lens, the study reveals that disability within DAP is associated with implicit bias, diversity, and a paradigm of fixing. The role of educators unfolds through themes such as reflecting on one's bias, creating inclusive environments by focusing on strengths and Universal Design (UD) and implementing screening processes. The findings shed light on the conflicting discourse of disability embedded in DAP, emphasising the need for educators to critically examine the notions of normalcy and the intersection of racism and ableism in the context of early childhood inclusion.

‘I never feel like I am prepared enough’: Teachers' self‐efficacy, challenges and experiences teaching students with disabilities

AbstractThis article investigated teachers' self‐efficacy, educational practices, challenges and support for students with disabilities in the inclusive classroom. Students with disabilities face many adversities today, such as rejection, stigma, discrimination and lack of support in the classroom. We employed an interdisciplinary and pluralistic approach (Baglieri et al., 2011; Connor et al., 2011) embedded in disability studies in education (DSE) and self‐efficacy theory to explore in‐service teachers' experiences in the field of inclusive education. We used a phenomenological approach and conducted eight teachers' semi‐structured interviews and classroom observations. We used purposeful sampling among teachers who work with students with disabilities. We used inductive analysis techniques to analyse the qualitative data collected from interviews and classroom observations. This study's findings reveal the importance of teachers' preparation, attitude and self‐efficacy to support students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms; the use of differentiated instruction strategies to meet the student's needs and increase their academic outcomes; and highlight the challenges, which include the lack of professional development, lack collaboration among teachers lack of parents' communication and lack of regular IEP meeting.

Investigating the Impact of a Motor Program on Preschoolers With Disabilities

A semistructured preschool motor program was developed in response to the paucity of evidence-based motor programs for preschoolers with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was undertaken to examine the impact of the CHildren in Action: Motor Program for PreschoolerS (CHAMPPS), a 21-week intervention that includes 42 Universal Design for Learning–embedded lessons with suggestions for supporting school readiness skills. Eight intervention and 8 control classrooms across 2 states participated in the RCT. Data on 51 children with disabilities provide initial evidence on how CHAMPPS positively impacted children's active engagement, motor, and social development. The promising results include gains in motor skills, sustained physical activity levels during motor play, increased on-task behavior, and high feasibility and usability ratings by teachers. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Changing students’ explicit and implicit attitudes toward peers with disabilities: Effects of a curriculum-based intervention programme

AbstractNegative peer attitudes are a significant barrier to social participation of students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Although many intervention studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of interaction or disability awareness programmes in promoting positive peer attitudes, reliance on students’ self-reported attitudes is prone to social desirability bias and is unable to capture implicit prejudice. The present study examined changes in students’ explicit and implicit attitudes toward peers with disabilities after a curriculum-based intervention programme (“Prinzip Vielfalt”), which aims to promote an open-minded attitude toward human diversity. Teachers in 12 primary school classes in the experimental group (n = 195 students) used the programme for eight weeks, whereas a control group of 12 classes (n = 191 students) used no intervention. Students’ pre- and post-intervention attitudes were assessed using an adapted version of the Chedoke–McMaster Attitudes Towards Children with Handicaps Scale and a disability Implicit Association Test for children. Post-intervention analyses revealed a significant relative improvement in explicit attitudes toward peers with disabilities in the experimental group compared to the control group (b = 0.20, 95% CI = [0.03; 0.37]) but no change in implicit attitudes (b = -0.03, 95% CI = [-0.10; 0.03]). Thus, while the intervention positively affected self-reported attitudes, implicit negative associations were unchanged. Using explicit and implicit measures of attitudes and attitude changes among children can provide valuable insights into the mechanisms and effectiveness of different intervention strategies.

Response to Intervention: What do Elementary School Teachers of Students with Specific Learning Disabilities in Inclusive Classrooms in Türkiye Know?

As a multi-tiered early diagnosis, intervention, and support system, Response to Intervention (RtI) identifies struggling students and helps them in inclusive classrooms. This study aims to examine the Turkish elementary school teachers’ knowledge level about RtI and its components. For this purpose, a basic qualitative study within the scope of qualitative research methods was conducted. Data was collected by conducting interviews with nine teachers working in inclusive classrooms with at least one student with specific learning disabilities at the elementary school level in Eskisehir, Türkiye. The data were analysed with content analysis. Results showed that participants of this study are not aware of RtI but they use some components of it in their instructions. In line with the findings, it is recommended that teachers, school administrators and policy makers in Türkiye need to expand their awareness with students with special needs and research-based practices in inclusive education, including multi-tiered interventions.

Teaching expository writing to Arabic-speaking students with intellectual disability in inclusive classrooms: effect of four-square method and sentence frames

Expository writing (EW) is crucial for the literacy development of students with intellectual disabilities (ID) in inclusive classrooms. Students with ID, however, struggle with EW due to problems with generating, organizing, and producing text. Similarly, teachers of students with ID face challenges with employing the appropriate instructional method to teach EW to students with ID. The current study, therefore, investigated the effectiveness of combining two instructional methods, namely the Four-Square Writing Method and Sentence Frames, in teaching EW skills to students with ID. Using a single group pretest posttest quasi experimental design, 8 students with mild ID who received their education in inclusive classroom in one of the suburban schools in Egypt participated in the study. Participants were aged between 11 and 12 and were enrolled in grades 5 and 6. An intervention instructional program was implemented to teach EW to participants. Prior to and following the intervention participants’ EW was evaluated with regard to paragraph length, structure and coherence. Results showed that the use of both strategies had a positive effect on students’ EW. Additionally, students retained their intervention gains after a follow up duration of eight weeks. Implications are discussed in relation to the context of teaching literacy skills to students with ID in Egypt.

Inclusive Education Practices at General Santos City SPED Integrated School

Two of the most important determinants of the success of the inclusion or structured placement of children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms are teachers' attitudes toward students with special educational needs and their understanding of how to educate them appropriately. The perspective of educators on the difficulty of educating students with special educational needs has been cited as a crucial factor in deciding whether or not schools are inclusive settings. If inclusion teachers do not view the teaching of these pupils as an essential part of their work, they will attempt to have someone else (often the special education teacher) assume responsibility for these students, which will create covert segregation inside the school. In other words, they will not embrace the education of these youngsters as part of their work responsibilities (e.g., the special class). This study examines the inclusive education practices of teachers in the General Santos City SPED Integrated School of the Philippines during the 2022–2023 school year. This inquiry employs the descriptive-correlational methodology. The Modified Opinions Relative to the Integration of Children with Disabilities (MORID) survey was completed by 115 female and 38 male full-time general education and special education instructors from one regional school. These educators were questioned regarding their views on the inclusion of students with impairments. Respondents were well-informed about inclusive education and held favorable opinions concerning inclusion. Schools must provide sufficient learning support providers and educational resources, as well as in-depth specialization courses that provide specialized practices for implementing the special education strategies in their classrooms and teaching strategies for bridging theory and practice. Individualized education plan (IEP) provisions, curriculum adjustments, and classroom adaptations that are suitable for learners with special educational needs should be incorporated into the design and actual implementation of learning support programs.

TỔ CHỨC DẠY HỌC PHÂN HÓA TRONG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG STEAM CHO HỌC SINH KHUYẾT TẬT HỌC HÒA NHẬP Ở TIỂU HỌC

Currently, more and more training programs in many countries connect STEAM education to teaching and learning; however, students with disabilities still do not have access to STEAM activities in a methodical way and lack differentiation to be able to meet the needs of students with disabilities. In addition, differentiated instruction is widely known as a teaching model or approach to meet the diverse needs of students in the classroom, especially in an inclusive setting with students with disabilities. Therefore, this article focuses on understanding the issue of differentiated instruction in STEAM activities for students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms in elementary settings; from there, it propose some ways of organizing differentiated instruction in STEAM activities for students with disabilities to learn at inclusive elementary schools.

Teaching learners with learning disabilities in inclusive classrooms: Challenges and possible solutions

In 2001, the government of Lesotho increased access to schooling for all learners by incrementally eliminating school fees in primary schools. As a result, the admission of children with learning disabilities (LD) in primary schools also increased. Despite these important gains in the restructuring of the education system towards full inclusion during the past two decades, the national policy on teacher training and implementation and school- and classroom-based challenges, remain. Data for this qualitative study were generated through meetings with two groups of participants (Grade 1 teachers). Free-attitude interviews were also conducted in the meetings to conduct an in-depth investigation in the study and the generated data were analysed using conversation analysis. The study concludes that all identified challenges are surmountable and therefore require careful planning, dedicated effort and financial assistance to enable teachers to act as a driving force for inclusive schooling.

Health-and-safety-promotion program development for children with intellectual disabilities in inclusive classroom

Health-and-safety-promotion program development for children with intellectual disabilities in inclusive classroom

General education teacher preparation in core academic content teaching for students with developmental disabilities

AbstractWe used multiple probe design with probe trials across three teacher‐student dyads to examine the effects of a professional development on middle school general education teachers' accurate use of simultaneous prompting procedure and self‐monitoring as well as the effects of the simultaneous prompting procedure on acquisition of academic core content of middle school students with developmental disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Moreover, we investigated the maintenance and generalization effects of professional development on teachers' outcomes as well as simultaneous prompting procedure on students' outcomes. Last, teachers' and students' opinions regarding social validity of the study were investigated. Results showed that (a) teachers acquired using simultaneous prompting procedure and self‐monitoring with 100% accuracy, maintained the acquired teaching behaviors over time and generalized them across different conditions and (b) students acquired their targeted academic content, maintained them over time, and generalized them across different people. Moreover, both the opinions of teachers and the students were positive. Implication of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Perspective of Teachers on the Cross-Curricular Pedagogical Approach for Children with Developmental Disabilities

The National Education Policy 2020 has voiced its interest and need for an evolved pedagogy attuned to the importance of quality education for all. The policy stresses the importance of one such creative pedagogical approach called the cross-curricular pedagogical approach. This study aims to assess the level of awareness and perspective of primary teachers, on the cross-curricular approach for children with developmental disabilities. The sample includes 100 teachers (50 general teachers and 50 special educators) in inclusive schools of Delhi-NCR. The data was collected using the survey method. Results indicate that 56% of general teachers and 80% of special educators are aware of the term ‘cross-curricular pedagogical approach. However, only 22% of general teachers and 34% of special educators have attended workshops and training sessions on cross-curricular pedagogical approaches. Many of the general teachers and special educators expressed a positive perception towards forging linkages between subject disciplines for teaching children with developmental disabilities in inclusive classrooms.

Division of International Special Education and Services (DISES) Information Brief February 2021

Division of International Special Education and Services (DISES) Information Brief February 2021

Assessment Practices: Ascertaining Views and Level of Understanding of Kindergarten Teachers in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

The thrust of the study was to investigate the various assessment practices teachers employ in assessing children with intellectual disabilities in inclusive classrooms in the Kumasi metropolis as majority of them do not follow many recommended assessment practices. A descriptive survey design was espoused using a sample of 120 early childhood teachers from 22 public inclusive schools in the Kumasi Metro. The purposive sampling technique was used to select all 22 public inclusive schools, while convenience sampling technique was employed to select the actual respondents for the study. Questionnaire was used to gather the research data. Means and Standard deviations were used as statistical tools to analyse the data. The findings revealed that most inclusive public kindergartens teachers in the Kumasi metropolis have a positive view about assessment practices and confirmed to employing it in assessing children with intellectual disabilities in inclusive classrooms. It was also evident that most inclusive public kindergarten teachers in the Kumasi metropolis have knowledge about assessment practices in inclusive schools. In spite of the positive areas recorded about the use of assessment practices, more needed to be done by the teachers to manage the diverse needs of children with intellectual disabilities in inclusive schools. It was therefore recommended that more workshops and in-service training should be organized to inclusive public kindergarten teachers in the Kumasi metropolis with respect to the updated ways of adopting assessment practices for children with intellectual difficult.

Preservice Teachers’ Attitudes, Knowledge, and Self-Efficacy of Inclusive Teaching Practices

ABSTRACT Inclusive education means that all students, including students with disabilities, have the right to access general education classrooms and receive high-quality instruction and appropriate levels of support to enable them to succeed. Given the importance of teacher preparation programs as the first incubator to shape teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive teaching practices, there is a need to pay more attention to further studies that focus on preservice teachers’ attitudes with considering their level of knowledge and efficacy. The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between attitudes, knowledge, and self-efficacy of preservice teachers about inclusive practices. This survey used a statistical analysis method performed by collecting data from 108 preservice teachers who were in the teacher preparation programmes at a university located in the Rocky Mountain region and had experience in inclusive classrooms. Analysis found that the preservice teachers’ attitudes and knowledge about inclusion contribute to predicting the teachers’ efficacy to use inclusive instruction strategies in their classrooms, to collaborate with others, and to manage students’ disruptive behaviours. The findings provide information on developing teacher preparation programmes to improve the quality of teaching practices for students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms.

Using UDL to Plan a Book Study Lesson for Students With Intellectual Disabilities in Inclusive Classrooms

Students with intellectual disabilities are among the least likely students to spend a significant amount of time in general education classrooms. When they are included, they may spend their time on non-academic learning experiences. Universal Design for Learning is a lesson planning framework that can guide teachers in inclusive lesson planning. This article explores the Universal Design for Learning framework and how teachers can incorporate it into the lesson planning process for a book study in high school English Language Arts. This lesson planning process provides genuine learning experiences to students with intellectual disabilities in the general education classrooms. The article offers examples of how to incorporate multiple means of representation, multiple means of engagement, and multiple means of expression and action within the four steps of the lesson planning process: learning goals, instructional methods, instructional materials, and assessment.

Teachers’ subjective theories regarding social dynamics management and social participation of students with Intellectual Disabilities in inclusive classrooms

ABSTRACT This study examines the social position of N = 507 young people with and without intellectual disabilities (ID) in inclusive secondary classes, using a sociometric peer-rating method. In addition, their teachers (N = 21) were asked in topic-centred interviews about their subjective theories regarding the respective social position, as well as social dynamics management measures. It is shown that young people with special educational needs (SEN) have, on average, a significantly lower social position than those without SEN. Teachers justified this by means of (a) individual-related, (b) interaction-related, and (c) class level-related characteristics. The social dynamics management measures were related to the cooperation of teachers, the promotion of cooperation in the class, and the discourse on inclusion.

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

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.

Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Preparedness to Teach Students With Severe Disabilities in Inclusive Classrooms: A Saudi Arabian Perspective

Successful inclusive education for students with severe disabilities (SD) relies on the preparedness of their teachers. This descriptive study investigated special education teachers’ perceptions of their preparedness to teach students with SD in inclusive educational settings. A survey was sent to 382 teachers of such students. In general, findings indicate that participants were confident that they were prepared to teach students with SD in inclusive education. Findings also show that the lowest levels of confidence were reported by participants with the shortest working experience, participants who have taught students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities and those with multiple disabilities, participants who have taught in the lower grades, and those who have already taught in general classrooms. The practical implications of the findings are discussed for supporting successful implementation of inclusive education for students with SD in terms of improving special education teachers’ preparedness.

Inclusive Education and Pedagogical Change: Experiences from the Front Lines

<p style="text-align:justify">Many educators hold beliefs that including students, at least to some degree, has academic and social benefits, however, they struggle with fundamental pedagogy. With a global shift from a segregated lens to that of an inclusive lens, special education teachers who once held positive beliefs towards segregated special education are now faced with a new reality of teaching students with disabilities in inclusive classroom settings. This paper highlights the experiences of ten educators who transitioned from teaching in a self-contained class to an inclusive class. Focus group and interview themes indicated that all had experienced a shift in their pedagogy- their overall beliefs and teaching methods- after they taught students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Despite their special education training, these educators were challenged by their own beliefs and expectations, the attitudes of others, and systematic barriers within the education system. Highlights of their change process include the positive performance of students with disabilities, the growth and development of the other students, and their overall pedagogical self-reflection. As a result, a framework, the Inclusive Educators’ Continuum of Change, was developed to highlight the change process and connect this research to the literature on inclusion and teacher change. This diagram can provide teacher educators a framework for discussing pedagogical change. Implications for professional development and teacher training for inclusive practice, as well as maximizing the educator skills in Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and mentorship opportunities will be highlighted.</p>