Teachers’ and hearing and speech specialists’ attitudes towards and knowledge of sustainable inclusive education for students using hearing devices

ABSTRACT

This study analysed the teachers and hearing and speech specialists’ (HSSs) attitudes towards and knowledge of sustainable inclusive education for children with hearing loss in the Canary Islands. The study sample comprised 297 teachers and HSSs. The authors designed the Inclusion Questionnaire (InQ). It was found that teachers and HSSs’ attitudes and knowledge centred on seven attitudes: sustainable professional development, self-efficacy in teaching competencies, inclusive leadership, assistive electronic technology, challenges around family involvement, embedding and sustaining reflexive practice, and technological usability and universal accessibility. The alpha coefficient for the total InQ was .841. These InQ factors have been developed with reliability and logical validity. There were differences in items under three factors among female and male teachers and HSSs. Teachers and HSSs also showed differences in the variables of age, work experience, and professional experience with students using hearing devices. Recommendations for inclusive values and sustainable educational change are suggested.

KEYWORDS:

• Teachers
• hearing and speech specialists
• attitudes
• inclusive education
• children using hearing devices

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt financial support for the research of this article: The CajaCanarias Foundation (competitive call project n° CSOCSEDO3 for four years, completed in 2018).

Notes on contributors

Olga María Alegre de la Rosa

Olga María Alegre de la Rosa is a Ph.D in Educational Sciences, Professor of Didactics and School Organization at the University of La Laguna, Tenerfe, Spain. Her specializations are inclusive education and University evaluation. She has 30 years of experience in the professional development of undergraduates. Her research focuses on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of inclusive teaching and learning and their impacts on multicultural education. Her general publications are related to effective diversity teaching practices and interventions for students with emotional and behavioural disorders. Dr. Alegre has co-authored several books and articles with Dr. Villar on e-mentoring, programme assessment and staff development.

Luis Miguel Villar Angulo

Luis M. Villar Angulo has a Ph.D in Educational Sciences. He served as chairman of the Department of Didactics and School Organisation at the Universities of Granada and Seville, Spain. His last position was Full Professor at the University of Seville, where he had been teaching Teacher Professional Development and University Teaching classes and was leading a research group on teaching. He had written peer-research articles and books focusing on teacher development. Since his first book, “La Formación del Profesorado” (1977), he had extended his research work to empirical research on teacher learning and development. Results from his work have been summarized in several books published with Olga M. Alegre de la Rosa.