Supporting the transition to inclusive education: Teachers’ attitudes to inclusion in the Seychelles
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
International Journal of Inclusive Education
Publisher
Routledge / Taylor & Francis
Place of Publication
United Kingdom
School
School of Education
RAS ID
21045
Abstract
The inclusion of children with disability in regular classroom settings has been identified worldwide as crucial to the provision of effective education for all children and to the creation of more inclusive societies. To this end there has been significant focus on pre-service and in-service teacher education to ensure that teachers are adequately prepared to teach in inclusive classrooms. When delivering a unit on inclusive education in the Seychelles, which was developed in Australia, we considered it essential to determine the suitability of the unit in supporting Seychellois teachers to teach inclusively. Teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about people with disability are two aspects that have consistently been shown to impact on a teacher’s willingness to include children with disability. Therefore, the Seychellois teachers were asked to complete questionnaires in the first and final weeks of the semester in which the teachers undertook the unit. The two sets of responses were analysed to determine significance and effect sizes of any change in attitudes and beliefs. Data revealed that the Seychellois teachers reported more positive attitudes and beliefs about the inclusion of children with disability in regular classrooms after completing the unit, suggesting that the unit of study was suitable for the Seychellois context.
DOI
10.1080/13603116.2016.1168873
Access Rights
subscription content
Comments
Main, S., Chambers, D. J., & Sarah, P. (2016). Supporting the transition to inclusive education: Teachers’ attitudes to inclusion in the Seychelles. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 20(12), 1270-1285. Available here