Attitudes of teachers and headteachers towards inclusion in Lebanon

Abstract

In the Arabic region, the drive towards inclusive practices in mainstream schools is at a relatively early stage, although, in Lebanon, the recent initiative of the National Inclusion Project (NIP), a project managed by a consortium of four organisations aimed at addressing the exclusion experienced by people with a disability, has the potential to promote rapid change in provision. This study explores the attitudes of teachers and headteachers towards people with a disability in mainstream primary schools in Lebanon, a middle-income Arab country. A mixed method approach was used to collect data. Forty teachers from mainstream schools within the Project completed questionnaires, and key headteachers as well as the consortium managers were interviewed. The sample was purposively selected in order to examine the attitudes of participants with previous experience of students with disabilities. In general, the findings indicate positive attitudes towards the inclusion of students in mainstream schools. However, participants expressed reservations about including all students, especially those with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Further challenges include limited training, availability of qualified specialist teachers and the high cost of supporting inclusion. These findings will inform future research, as more studies regarding the implementation of inclusive education in the Middle East are warranted.

Keywords:

• attitudes
• inclusion
• inclusive education
• Lebanon
• disability
• special educational needs

Notes

For the purposes of this research, inclusion is viewed as a process that promotes useful participation for all learners, irrespective of their difficulties.

We use the phrase ‘special educational needs’ (SEN) to refer to the categories that are used within education to allocate resources. There is no space within this paper to unpick the complex assumptions on which such systems of categorisation are based or to explore whether or not they are appropriate.