Inclusion of students with special education needs: a quantitative study regarding Lao elementary regular teachers'perception

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of the elementary school teachers towards inclusion of students with disabilities into regular schools. A questionnaire was applied to ninety participants who are Lao elementary school teachers in Attapeu Province, southern part of Laos. The perceptions of the participants in this study allow me to conclude that: 1) Most participants preferred students with disabilities to be included in special schools; 2) Most of elementary school teachers mentioned that inclusion into regular elementary schools can benefit the families of students with disabilities, Lao regular teachers, Lao community, and students without disabilities; 3) Most participants stated that inclusion into regular elementary school can have positive impact on the academic and social progress of student with disabilities; 4) Most participants had greater positive attitudes towards the inclusion of people with disabilities in Lao community; 5) Female regular elementary school teachers had more positive attitude towards the benefits of inclusion of students with disabilities into regular elementary schools than male teachers; 6) The regular elementary teachers who did not have background information about teaching students with disabilities had negative attitudes toward the inclusion of students with disabilities into regular elementary schools; 7) Most participants indicated that they would probably have opportunity to teach students with disabilities in regular elementary school settings in the future; and 8) Internal consistency reliability computed by means of Cronbach’s Alpha for the questionnaire was 0.68.

A finalidade deste estudo consistiu em investigar as perceções dos professores do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico relativamente à inclusão de alunos com necessidades educativas especiais (NEE) nas escolas públicas. Os dados foram recolhidos através da aplicação de um questionário a noventa professores do 1º Ciclo em Attapeu, zona sul do Laos. Os resultados obtidos neste estudo foram: 1) A maioria dos professores considerou que os alunos com NEE devem ser educados em escolas especiais; 2) A maioria dos professores considerou que a inclusão nas escolas regulares pode beneficiar as famílias dos alunos com NEE, os professores da escola regular do Laos, a comunidade do Laos, e os alunos sem NEE; 3) A maioria dos professores indicou que a inclusão pode ter um impacto positivo no progresso académico e social do aluno com NEE; 4) Os professores apresentaram atitudes positivas em relação à inclusão de pessoas com NEE na comunidade do Laos; 5) Os participantes do género feminino apresentaram atitudes mais positivas em relação aos benefícios da inclusão de alunos com NEE nas escolas regulares do que os participantes do género masculino; 6) Os professores que não tinham informações básicas sobre como ensinar os alunos com NEE tiveram atitudes mais negativas em relação à inclusão de alunos com NEE nas escolas regulares; 7) A maioria dos professores indicou que terão provavelmente oportunidade de ensinar alunos com NEE no futuro, e 8) A consistência interna do questionário obtida através do alfa de Cronbach foi de 0.68.