Greek mainstream secondary school teachers’ perceptions of inclusive education and of having pupils with complex learning disabilities in the classroom/school

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine Greek mainstream secondary school teachers’ perceptions of inclusive education and of having pupils with complex learning disabilities (cLD) in the classroom or school. Participants included 138 Greek mainstream secondary school teachers working in inclusive state schools in northern Greece. Findings indicated that 47.5% of the participants were against the inclusion of all pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream secondary schools. Three variables were found to be associated with teachers’ attitudes about the inclusion of pupils with cLD: age, years of teaching experience and SEN training. Overall, it is suggested that training, as well as perceived competence and sense of support, were important in influencing teachers’ attitudes about including pupils with cLD in mainstream classrooms. It is proposed that the recent implementation of inclusive education in Greece and the prevailing rudimentary conditions for its implementation might also have had an impact on teachers’ attitudes.

Keywords:

• teacher attitudes
• inclusive education
• inclusion
• Greek secondary school
• special educational needs

Notes

1. It was decided to translate the Greek term into ‘integration unit’ rather than ‘inclusion unit’ because pupils with SEN do not seem to be offered the optimum educational environment and support to warrant the term ‘inclusion’.

2. Although not stated in the published research article (Koutrouba et al. 2008), upon request Koutrouba informed the first author that their participants worked in mainstream schools without any form of support for pupils with SEN.

3. Support was considered a factor because it was found that the majority of participants had classroom experience of pupils with cLD and stated they felt unsupported.