Teachers’ perception of inclusion in elementary school: the importance of imitation

ABSTRACT

This study explored teachers’ perception of inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN) in Swedish regular elementary schools. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with six teachers from different schools were used, and the interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Two themes were arrived at: perception of inclusion and imitation of peers. These themes are presented and discussed in relation to implications for research and education. The results revealed barriers hindering children with SEN from learning by imitating. The findings emphasise that how inclusion is discussed in schools merits further attention and that education is inclusive only if it is seen as self-evident that all students should interact.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusion
• imitation
• special educational needs
• disabilities
• elementary school teachers

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the participants for sharing their thoughts. We also gratefully acknowledge Professor Claes Nilholm, Uppsala University, for helpful comments on a previous version of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.