Conceptualising inclusive education: the role of teacher training and teacher's attitudes towards inclusion of children with disabilities in Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Although there is widespread support for inclusion at a philosophical level, there are some concerns that teachers lack the necessary knowledge and skills to educate students with disability in inclusive classrooms. Utilising a data set of 125 teachers from 3 teacher education institutions and 6 secondary schools in Ethiopia, this study reports the effects of teacher training on understanding inclusive education, teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and their feelings towards students with a disability. The results show that there are two positions reflected in conceptualising inclusive education, i.e. the concept that is placing children with disability in the regular class, while another concept is just providing support to children with disability. This study reports 81–85% of the participants’ positive understanding of the overall purpose of inclusive education. Teachers reported a more positive attitude towards inclusion than those who had negative experiences implementing inclusive pedagogy and working with children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. The main concerns regarding the implementation of inclusive education include very little readiness (62%), inadequate teacher preparation (38%), lack of instructional materials (25%), less attention being paid to teacher preparation for inclusive education (20%), etc. The implications discussed and suggestions made for future studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive education
• inclusive pedagogy
• children with a disability
• inclusion
• mainstreamed class

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tamirat Gibon Ginja

Tamirat Gibon Ginja Ginja is a PhD candidate at Shaanxi Normal University. He worked as Lecturer of Education at Arbaminch College of Teacher Education; and Wolaita Soddo University, Ethiopia. Besides, he worked on the position of Education Program Expert & Manager in INGOs.

Xiaoduan Chen

Xiaoduan Chen is a leading Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Shaanxi Normal University. His research interests include the study of teaching and curriculum theories, teacher education and professional development.