‘Because of X, Y and Z …’ what exactly are X, Y and Z? emotional, cognitive and behavioural responses from student teachers in post-compulsory education to teaching students with disabilities

Abstract

In higher education, disabled students constitute at least 4.82% of the whole student population in the United Kingdom with 98,030 (known via self-assessment) disabled students, with the largest sub-group of 1.74% being those with dyslexia (n = 35,435; Higher Education Statistics Agency, 2001/2002). The aim of this study was to explore the emotional, cognitive and behavioural responses from student teachers in post-compulsory education to teaching this cohort. The sample groups were drawn from three different institutions in the United Kingdom (n = 40) and data was collected via five 1-hour group interviews. The findings illustrate a lack of practical and psychological preparation during teacher training for teaching diverse groups. The study suggests that if lecturers are not prepared to meet the challenges of teaching disabled students, the severity of the disabling condition presented to them determines their attitudes towards the notion of inclusion. In relation to pedagogy, this study’s findings of teacher and student deficit models suggest that teachers are both perpetrators and victims of attribution. Finally, there appeared to be a general acceptance and desire for inclusion as an educational ideal, tempered by a pragmatic response, which acknowledges that educators’ understanding of how to achieve inclusion is as yet limited; no more starkly illustrated than by opinion that the inclusion of disabled students can be to the detriment of their non-disabled peers.