Students’ attitudes toward disability: a systematic literature review (2012–2019)

ABSTRACT

Inclusive education is a philosophy and practice that has been promoted internationally. Most scholars now agree that inclusion is more than the placement of students with exceptionalities in a general education class. Instead, definitions of inclusion have expanded to encompass feelings of belongingness. This definition is an improvement, but begs the question: how do we help students to feel more of a part of their class? Ableist attitudes held by students without special education needs may be hindering inclusive ideals. This article presents a systematic literature review (SLR) of current research (2012-2019) on students’ attitudes toward disability. The searching strategy resulted in 37 peer-reviewed journal articles. This review offers a synthesis of the research in the field, which includes determinant studies and intervention studies. The article pool includes 21 determinant studies and 16 intervention studies. Eight determinant and three intervention themes are presented. Recommendations for future research and implications for inclusive education are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Attitude
• disability
• systematic literature review
• inclusion
• students

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

John R. R. Freer

John R. R. Freer is a professor in the School of Community Studies at St. Clair College and a sessional instructor at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. He mainly teaches courses related to psychology and special education. He has a Ph.D. in Educational Studies with a focus on Cognition and Learning. His research interests meet at the intersection of psychology, education, and disability studies.