Perceptions of the Educational Community on the Inclusion and Presence of Students with SEN in Mainstream Schools: A Mixed Study

Abstract

Achieving inclusive education is a primary challenge for the educational community. Inclusion refers to equal access to education—to the presence, participation and learning of all students. Offering an inclusive education requires all students to share time and space together in the mainstream classroom, that the educational community manifests a positive attitude towards diversity, and that educational centers plan to welcome diversity in their classrooms. The general objective of this study was to evaluate the inclusion of students with SEN enrolled in SOCs in mainstream schools based on their presence, the attitudes of the educational community and the planning processes developed. This was a descriptive study with a dominant status mixed design (QUAN-Qual). The population investigated in this research included the total number of SOCs of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia (Spain) (n = 108). The sample obtained comprised 3.891 people belonging to 88 SOCs from 68 educational centers, which implies a confidence interval of 99% (Z = 2.576) and a margin of error of less than 5%. The data collection instruments used included seven questionnaires, adapted for the purposes of the study, for the quantitative phase, and semi-structured interviews, focus groups and discussion groups for the qualitative phase. The study results indicated that the attitudes of the educational community were the main determinant of inclusion. There is a need to reflect on and undertake actions to eliminate existing barriers to the operation of SOCs, since the involvement of students with SEN in the academic and social life of educational centers, and in mainstream classrooms, is not guaranteed.

From Specialised Classrooms to Mainstream Classrooms: A Study on the Inclusion of Students with Special Educational Needs from the Voices of Their Mainstream Peers

“…This is an aspect of great importance [6,7] because it can help in detecting the barriers that inclusion must face and overcome in order to guarantee the presence, participation, and learning of all students in mainstream contexts [17,18]. Accordingly, there are previous studies of the national [10,11,20] and international situation [6,[12][13][14][15] that have studied this aspect. Therefore, this study contributes to a topic of great interest within the field of study of inclusive education from a seldom-heard point of view: that of the perception of the students without SENs in MCs (students whose voices have rarely been acknowledged in research processes).…”

“…However, as stated by Alcaraz and Arnaiz [8], there are scarce and intermittent works that deal with the issue of schooling and the placement of students with SENs and their impact on the development of the principle of inclusion movement. In spite of this, the existence of relevant research that exposes very significant evidence within the Spanish framework [9][10][11] and also within the international context [12][13][14][15] is acknowledged.…”

Elementary teachers’ pedagogical competencies in supporting students with learning difficulties

“…In examining research and policy within the field of inclusive education, a barrier to including students within the regular education context is the knowledge, skills and attitudes of educators [8], [9]. The UN General Comment No 4 stresses the need for teachers to have positive attitudes and strong professional knowledge, stating, "A process of educating all teachers at pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary and vocational education levels must be initiated to provide them with the necessary core competencies and values to work in inclusive educational environments."…”

Engagement of Preschool-Aged Children in Daily Routines

“…Although emphasis has been placed on numerous positive outcomes of high-quality inclusive programs, practical experience in research shows that children with developmental disabilities have limited opportunities to engage in activities [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Peer group inclusion presents a great challenge to children with developmental disabilities, since it is related to the development of self-regulation, which basically means the ability to direct and sustain short-term attention and self-regulate emotions and behavior in response to changing environmental demands [ 16 ].…”

“…Peer group inclusion presents a great challenge to children with developmental disabilities, since it is related to the development of self-regulation, which basically means the ability to direct and sustain short-term attention and self-regulate emotions and behavior in response to changing environmental demands [ 16 ]. Children with poor self-regulation skills and profound levels of developmental disabilities are more often in a situation where they are excluded from joint activities with their peers, which reduces opportunities for promoting socio-emotional development, while children with speech and language delays are less involved in rule games and attend reading sessions less often in comparison to children without developmental disabilities [ 15 ]. Research by McWilliam and Bailey [ 17 ] found that children with developmental disabilities, compared with their typically developing peers, are less engaged and in lower levels.…”