Attitudes of academics to special needs accommodations in Kuwait

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with the perceptions of academics working in Kuwait towards potential accommodations for university students with disabilities. A focus on students with disabilities is relatively new in Kuwait, but this study considered staff within a university with the stated aim to support students with disabilities. An independent, anonymous online questionnaire was distributed to staff (76 respondents). The 13 items were reduced to four factors that related to increasing levels of providing accommodations: (i) Basic, (ii) Alternative, (iii) Individualised/flexible, and (iv) Changes in course materials. Findings indicated that the staff were willing to implement accommodations for students with disabilities. In terms of characteristics influencing perceptions, there were no differences across gender or academic discipline. However, staff with more teaching experience indicated that they were more likely to allow alternative and flexible accommodations. Staff who had taught students with a disability previously were more variable in their views about allowing more flexible accommodations, possibly due to positive/negative prior experiences. These data argue for generally positive attitudes within this relatively inexperienced context, but argue for the need for additional training to support less experienced staff and to ensure previous experiences can enhance positive staff development.

KEYWORDS:

• University students
• Special needs
• Academics perceptions
• post secondary school education
• learning disabilities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr. Gad Elbeheri is the Founder and Managing Director of Global Educational Consultants (Egypt) and the President (Middle East & Africa) of the International Higher Education Group LLC (USA). Previously he was the Dean of the Australian College of Kuwait and the Executive Director of Centre for Child Evaluation & Teaching. An applied linguist who obtained his PhD from the University of Durham, UK, Dr. Elbeheri has a keen interest in cross-linguistic studies of specific learning difficulties and inclusive education. Dr. Elbeheri has made over 40 conference and seminar presentations around the world. He has published over 8 books in both English and Arabic in the field of dyslexia, and over 10 peer reviewed journal articles on dyslexia and its manifestations in Arabic. He has participated in producing nationally standardized tests and computer-based screening programs in Arabic.

John Everatt is a Professor of Education at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. His research focuses on literacy acquisition and developmental learning difficulties, including how to support children and adults who are struggling to thrive within an educational context. His work also considers literacy skills among those from a second/additional language background, as well as how the characteristics of different scripts/orthographies might lead to variations in learning/acquisition.

Abdessatar Mahfoudhi is an Associate Professor of language and literacy at the Australian College of Kuwait and a Senior Researcher at the Center for Child Evaluation and Teaching in Kuwait. His research interests are in language and literacy and language-based disabilities with a focus on Arabic as a first language and English as an additional language. He is on the editorial board of the Arab Journal of Applied Linguistics.

Khaled Al Muhareb is an assistant professor of special education at the Department of Curriculum and Teaching Methods of the College of Education, Kuwait University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in special education focusing on issues, strategies and methods related to teaching students with disabilities in inclusive settings. His research interests include teacher preparation for inclusive education, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). Dr. Almuhareb is also involved with several government agencies working on initiatives to enable inclusive educational practices in Kuwait.

Faidon Theofanides is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Australian College of Kuwait and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Central Queensland University. His research interests include several aspects: Marketing Research (advanced techniques in quantitative and qualitative analysis), Advertising Research, Consumer Behavior, European social (labor issues, insurance, disability) and economic policies. Together with his colleagues he is author and coauthor of more than 25 marketing and business articles published in international scientific journals and conferences.