Inclusive education in Saudi Arabia and Germany: students’ perception of school well-being, social inclusion, and academic self-concept

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to compare perceptions of inclusion between Saudi and German students using a Perception of Inclusion Questionnaire (PIQ). The samples included 888 students from Saudi Arabia and 699 from Germany. Responses of the fifth and sixth grades’ students in both countries were compared. Descriptive statistics, t-test, and Cohen’s effect size were conducted to analyse the data. In general, Saudi students were more positive about their perception of inclusion in schools; however, Saudi students also showed more tendency to agree with all items in the PIQ, including negative indicators of the level of inclusion. No differences were expressed by either sample for not having a strong desire to go to school, and both expressed strongly positive responses regarding getting along very well with classmates. Students with learning disabilities in both samples reported lower academic self-concept compared with their peers. Recommendations for future research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Student perceptions
• students with special education needs
• inclusive education
• Saudi Arabia
• Germany
• perception of inclusion questionnaire

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Measurement invariance were checked across the samples and partial metric invariance was established.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by King Salman Center for Disability Research [RG-20190008].