Factors correlated with teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusion of students with special educational needs in Cyprus

Abstract

Inclusion of SEN students in mainstream classrooms constitutes an ambitious objective of the education system in Cyprus. The legislation currently in effect provides for a clear‐cut frame of action, largely based on the willingness of teachers in the mainstream school, who are expected to develop positive attitudes that encourage and support the coeducation of SEN and non‐SEN students. However, the impact of infrastructural insufficiency, prejudice and, above all, the lack of specific knowledge as regards special education, seems in many cases to pose obstacles that undermine any efforts made. The present study, based on recent research in the schools in Cyprus, aims at recording teachers’ perceptions and determining the factors that influence Cypriot teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion after the implementation of the new laws on special education in Cyprus. The findings of this research confirm that the provisions in the new laws have adopted the right course of action, although teachers’ feelings of inadequacy, non‐SEN students’ circumspection and SEN students’ hesitation have not yet been satisfactorily addressed.

Keywords:

• Special educational needs
• Inclusion
• Teachers’ attitudes
• Cypriot education

Notes

Detailed information on the Cyprus legislation on special education has been taken from the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education (2003), Special Needs Education in Cyprus, with the contribution of EURYDICE (http://www.european‐agency.org).