Preparing preschool teacher candidates for inclusion: impact of two special education courses on their perspectives

Abstract

Successful implementation of inclusive practices depends mainly on teachers' attitudes towards children with special needs and their inclusion, and teachers' willingness to work with children with special needs in their classrooms. Experiences teacher candidates have during pre‐service stage might influence their perceptions towards children with disabilities and their inclusion. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of two special education courses on (1) preschool teacher candidates' general attitudes towards inclusion, (2) their willingness to work with children with significant intellectual, physical and behavioural disabilities within inclusive classroom settings and (3) their level of comfort in interacting with children with disabilities. A four‐part survey was administered to participants four times throughout the study, once before and after each course. The survey package included (1) a demographic information form, (2) the Opinions Relative to the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities Scale, (3) an adapted version of the Teachers' Willingness to Work with Children with Severe Disabilities Scale and (4) the Interaction with Children with a Disability Scale. The results showed that both special education courses positively influenced teacher candidates' attitudes, willingness and comfort levels. However, impact of the second course focused on helping teacher candidates learn and apply instructional strategies to work with children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms was much larger. Implications of the study findings in relation to future research and practice are discussed.

Impact of Coaching on Preservice Teachers’ Use of Embedded Instruction in Inclusive Preschool Classrooms

“…What is critical, however, is the transfer of this knowledge into classroom practice. Research evidence suggests that instruction on EBPs in a university course alone is not sufficient to promote preservice teachers use of these practices in their classrooms (Coogle et al, 2015; Hemmeter, Snyder, Kinder, & Artman, 2011) and that field experiences coupled with coursework have a stronger effect on preservice teachers’ practices than college coursework alone (Barton et al, 2013; Leko, Brownell, Sindelar, & Kiely, 2015; Rakap, Cig, & Parlak-Rakap, 2015; Scheeler et al, 2009).…”

Investigation and comparison of Turkish and American preschool teacher candidates’ attitudes towards inclusion of young children with disabilities

“…Lack of training on educating children with disabilities and those who have severe behaviour problems increases the negative attitudes towards inclusion of these children. Rakap, Cig, and Parlak-Rakap (2015) reported that pre-service teachers' attitudes towards inclusion of young children with severe behaviour problems positively changed only after they took a course focused on supporting social-emotional development and addressing challenging behaviours of young children with disabilities. Rakap, Cig, and Parlak-Rakap (2015) also found that an introductory course on special education was not effective for positively changing pre-service teachers' attitudes towards inclusion of young children with physical, cognitive, or behavioural disabilities.…”

“…Several researchers reported that pre-service teachers have favourable attitudes and support towards inclusion of children with disabilities into regular education classrooms (Avramidis, Bayliss, and Burden 2000;Beacham and Rouse 2012;Park, Chitiyo, and Choi 2010;Rakap, Cig, and Parlak-Rakap. 2015;Ryan 2009;Sharma and Sokal 2013), while others reported more negative pre-service teacher attitudes (Hastings and Oakford 2003;Kayili et al 2010;Orel, Zerey, and Toret 2004;Sahbaz and Kalay 2010).…”

Peculiarities of Psychological Competence Formation of University Teachers in Inclusive Educational Environment

“…The group of scientists S. Rakap et al (2017) researched the influence of special education courses on the following indicators: general relation of teachers to students with special needs; readiness of pedagogues for work with students with intellectual, physical and behavioural disorders. The authors have concluded that successful implementation of inclusive practice depends on the attitude of teachers to students with special needs, and their readiness to work with students with limited health opportunities.…”