The teachers’ perceptions on inclusive education

Abstract

The inclusion of students with different disabilities has been subject to debate for several years, both locally as well as globally. The main aim of this study is to focus on the perceptions and attitudes of educators towards the inclusion and integration of students with disability in primary mainstream classrooms in Malta. This research investigation is aimed to explore how different factors may affect the teachers’ attitudes towards including students with disability. Further questions raised in this study were to investigate if the teachers’ ideologies of inclusion are being adjusted according to the new realities in the classroom, and if they did, in what ways they create an inclusive environment in their classroom. A total number of six teachers, with at least ten years of teaching, from the same college in Primary state schools were the main participants of this study. In order to investigate their insights on inclusive education, a number of questions were set out in face-to-face individual interviews. The data obtained from these interviews reveals that a number of factors and limitations do affect the teachers’ attitudes towards their planning for the involvement of disabled children in class.