Presented by: SANIA IQBAL

Department of EDUCATION

Course: INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Course Instructor: Ms. IFFET SULTANA

A STUDY OF THE ATTITUDES OF

PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN

HARARE TOWARDS THE INCLUSION OF BLIND CHILDREN IN REGULAR CLASSES

This article presents the results of a study of the attitudes of primary school teachers in Harare, Zimbabwe, towards the inclusion of blind children in regular classes. The ultimate aim was to assess the acceptability of moves towards inclusive education in mainstream Zimbabwean schools. The study was conducted from May to June 2000.

OBJECTIVE OF RESEARCH

This study explores the attitudes of primary school teachers in Harare towards inclusive education with special reference to blind children. It becomes compelling to study the attitudes of teachers towards inclusive education, specially since many educational programs have been found to fail because of teachers attitudes. It is therefore necessary that adequate research be done to assess the acceptability or otherwise of implementing inclusive education in schools.

INTRODUCTION

PILOT STUDYThe likert-type questionnaire was adopted from Booth and Ainscow (1998) with few modifications, the writer felt it necessary to test-run it since the subjects and circumstances were different. The questionnaire was thus piloted with a group of 150 teachers to:Test its validity and reliabilityTidy up research procedures.RELIABILITY: as the likert scale was used, item reliability was obtained by scoring all items and adding the scale values of each item to get the total attitude score for each respondents.

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METHODOLOGY

Four hundred (N=400) primary school teachers were involved in this study. Of these 200 were male teachers and another 200 were females, to permit systematic handling of the variable of sex, since it was assume that attitude might vary with gender. In order to come up with equal number of males and females, stratified random sampling was used.

SAMPLE

A survey research design was used in this study. It allows the collection of data which may be used to assess current practices and conditions and to make intelligent plans to improve them. It was the intention of this study to assess the current attitudes of primary school teachers towards including blind children in regular classes. The results of this study may be used to chart the future of inclusive education in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.

RESEARCH DESIGN

Questionnaire and interviews were the instruments used to collect data. Questionnaires were particularly suitable because since inclusive education is a policy issue, teachers were free to give their real views without fear of victimization. Follow up interviews with 100 teachers permitted examining into understated issues which the researcher felt could not be revealed through the questionnaire .

INSTRUMENTS

A total of 400 questionnaires were personally delivered and collected from the teachers.

The questionnaire had 14 items and for each item, subjects were required to give the reason for their answers. The first 10 items tapped teachers attitudes towards including blind children in regular classes while the last 4 items related to the teachers views about the regular teachers’ understanding of and competence in handling blind children.

QUESTIONNAIRE

The Likert scale used Strongly Agree (SA); Agree (A); Undecided (U); Disagree (D); and Strongly Disagree (SD). Scoring the Likert scale required the following:

The above shows that statements were first classified into positive and negative. Positive statements were then scored 5 from strongly agree down o 1 for strongly disagree while negative ones will scores 1 for strongly agree up-to 5 for strongly disagree.

SCORING

SA A U D SD

Positive Statement 5 4 3 2 1

Negative Statement 1 2 3 4 5

Item scores for each respondent were next added up to obtain a total score. Since the questionnaire had 14 items, there was a maximum possible score of 70 (14x5) and a minimum score of 14 (14x1). To see the respondents attitude were positive or negative, a score above half the maximum possible score (70/2= 35) was regarded positive while score below 35 were regarded negative. The neutral points (35 or undecided) were included for purpose of analysis in order to make the results directional.

In this study high scores meant a favorable attitude and low scores an unfavorable attitude towards the inclusion of blind children in regular classes.

SCORING

While the research basically intended to investigate, it also hypothesized that there is no relationship between teacher attitudes towards including blind children in regular classes and gender.

HYPOTHESIS

Data were transferred to coding sheets and key-punched for analysis. The results are presented below:

The total no. of low-scale scores (345) is far more than the total no. of high-scale scores (55). This means that the majority of teachers (86%) are against including blind children in regular classes.The 14 items of questionnaire were themselves taken to be rating scales and as such were analyzed individually.

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

Total no. of low –scale scores (14 to 34)

345 (86%)

Total no. of high – scale scores (36 to 70)

55 (14%)

ITEMS No. & % of favorable attitude

No. & % of unfavorable

attitude

1. Increase the child’s circle of friends

39 (9.75%) 361 (90.25%)

2. Limit the child’s level of academic performance

370 (92.5%) 30 (7.5%)

3. Make the child less well-adjusted socially

368 (92%) 32 (8%)

4. Ensure that sighted children will be happy to play with blind children

58 (14.5%) 342 (85.5%)

5. Worsen the child’s learning problems

381 (95.25%) 19 (4.75%)

6. Have a negative effect on the social development of other children

173 (43.25%) 227 (56.75%)

7. Provide more opportunities for other children to benefit from specialized instructions of blind child

92 (23%) 308 (77%)

NUMBERS AND PERCENTAGES OF RESPONDENTS SHOWING FAVORABLE OR

UNFAVORABLE ATTITUDE TOWARDS EACH OF THE 14 QUESTIONNAIRE ITEMS

ITEMS No. & % of favorable attitude

No. & % of unfavorable attitude

8. Develop a stronger feeling in the child of confidence in his/her academic ability

34 (8.5%) 366 (91.5%)

9. Increase the amount of social rejection by child’s peers

355 (88.75%) 45 (11.25%)

10. Ensure that sighted children will be more appreciated of blind children

60 (15%) 340 (85%)

Regular Teachers11. Donot understand problems associated with blindness

233 (58.25%) 167 (41.75%)

12. Do not make appropriate educational provisions for blind children

285 (71.25%) 115 (28.75%)

13. Are well prepared to teach blind children effectively

26 (6.5%) 374 (93.5%)

14. Are happy to have blind children in their classes

24 (6%) 376 (94%)

NUMBERS AND PERCENTAGES OF RESPONDENTS SHOWING FAVORABLE OR

UNFAVORABLE ATTITUDE TOWARDS EACH OF THE 14 QUESTIONNAIRE ITEMS

For purposes of analysis, the 14 items were regrouped into those relating to social aspects, academic aspects and the regular teacher’s willingness to teach blind children.

SOCIAL ASPECTS: responses indicates that including a blind

child in regular class will not increase his/her circle of friends (90.25%). The main reason given was that pupils in regular class will shun him/her since he/she can be bother in term of seeking assistance from them.

FINDINGS OF STUDY

Child is likely to be less well adjusted socially (92%).

Inclusive education doesn’t make a sighted child happy to play with a blind child (85.5%).

Inclusive education can increase the amount of social rejection by the child’s peers (88.75%).

May be less appreciative of the blind (85%).According to teachers, this too will negatively

affect the social development of other children (56.75%) because of lack of classroom interaction.

FINDINGS OF STUDY

ACADEMIC ASPECTS:Majority of teachers (92.5%) felt that inclusion will

limit the child’s level of academic performance because the child, being a social rejected, has problem in discussing and sharing ideas with others.

He/she may lose confidence in his/her own academic skills (91.5%).

Inclusion will not make pupils in regular classes benefit from the specialized instructions of blind child (77%) this is so because these children use different mode in their reading % therefore may not grasp concepts at same pace.

FINDINGS OF STUDY

ASPECTS RELATING TO THE REGULAR TEACHER:Regular teachers understand the problems

associated with blindness (58.25%), they do not make appropriate educational provisions for blind children because of heavy workload and lack of resources.

Majority of teachers (94%) are not happy to have blind children in their classes

Majority of them (93.5%) are not prepared to teach them. These children are seen as a burden & as interfering with normal flow & routine of regular class activities.

FINDINGS OF STUDY

Research results suggest that, while the blind children may be included physically, he/she may remain socially and academically excluded because of the attitudes of the teachers (and perhaps the pupils). Many of the teachers interviewed felt these children should be in special schools. One interviewee remarked:

“By giving them an appropriate education in special schools, we increase there opportunities in society. We would be violating their rights by not giving them the most suitable and relevant education, which is only possible in special schools. Why should “giving them the best” be viewed as violating their rights?”

CONCLUSION

Students with disabilities are not developed to the full, they will remain unable to influence events in their surroundings, relying on the help of others to fulfi ll their own decisions. If the ultimate goals of educating children with disabilities are maximum empowerment, independence and participation in the wider society, then special and separate schooling are perhaps unavoidable.

Inclusion is an intense struggle. If this is anything to go by, then policy makers and educationists in general needs to seriously consider what teachers, parents and those with disabilities themselves think and feel about inclusion. Therefore it is only fair that we speak and advocate for themselves.

CONCLUSION

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Cl ignet , R. & Foster , B. (1966) The Fortunate Few: a study of secondary schools and students in the Ivory Coast . Ivory Coast : North-West Univers i ty Press

Dyson, A. (1997) ‘ Inclusion: What to include’ , Educat ion rev iew. 3(1) , 3 – 8. Fishbein, M. (1975) Bel ief , Att i tudes, Intent ion and Behaviour: Phi l ippines:

Addison Wesley. Giorcel l i , L . (1995) ‘Schools for the 21 s t Century: inclusive and col laborat ive’ .

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