Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Inclusion of Pupils with Behavioral Problems in Mainstreams Schools: An International Literature Review!

Author(s):

Ulrika Gidlund(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

04. Inclusive Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

04 SES 10 A, Relationship of Teacher Personality and Attitudes to Inclusive Education (Part 1)

Paper Session: to be continued in 04 SES 11 A

Time:

2014-09-04

15:30-17:00

Room:

B013 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Sip Jan Pijl

Contribution

The right of all children to education, including those children in significant need of special support, is described in several international documents. The concept of inclusive education won international recognition when the United Nations (UN) put forth the idea of "Education for All" in 1990. Several countries have since implemented a policy to promote integration and, more recently, the inclusion of these pupils in regular environments. With this in mind, the professionals' attitudes are of great importance for a successful implementation of inclusion, which also is emphasized in the Salamanca Statement (1994). What attitudes do teachers in various countries have for inclusion of pupils with special needs in mainstream school? Some reviews of this literature already exist and willserveas a base for this study. The purpose of this review is todiscoverwhat previous international research says about teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of pupils with behavior problems in mainstream school. This review summarizes existing research to provide a platform for further work and for identifying research gaps. It also aims to go beyond the individual studies and seek out and synthesize the research on teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in different countries and identify what is specifically found regarding attitudes to inclusion of pupils with behavioral problems.

Previous reviews (Avramidis & Norwish, 2002; De Boer, Pijl & Minnaert, 2010) indicate that teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of pupils with SEN in mainstream schools are dependent on a variety of factors. They mention (1) the nature of the disability; (2) the teacher’s gender, teaching experience, grade level taught, and experience and training for teaching pupils with SEN, and (3) support services at the classroom and school levels. In previous reviews, the conclusions have been that teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion, dependent of the nature of the disability, are lowest when it comes to of pupils with behavioral problems.

According to the OCED (2007), it is difficult to make international comparisons between different categories of disability; all countries use categories, but the categories used are not uniform within countries,and the definitions of the categoriesvaryamongcountries. Thisis partly because the cross-national categorization system has been developed. Important to note is that considering the apparent increase in the number of students who are described as having behavioral difficulties, no such category is used in all countries. For those that do, there is evidence of a greater differentiation within this disability than within other categories.

In Sweden, Socialstyrelsen (2010) defines behavior problems as when a child repeatedly violates the rules, norms, or expectations of his/her childhood environment, and most behavior problems are defined in terms of the values and norms ofthe social community. A certain act of the child could be perceived to be a problem in one situation (the protest against the teacher's demands in the classroom) but not in another (the protest against the bully). Children with behavioral problems are described as being a“motley crew.”

UNESCO (2009) describe the concept of behavioral problems similarly. SEBD(Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Difficulties) is consideredto be an umbrella term,regarded as imprecise and difficult to define since it is in a continuum of behaviorthat challenges teachers: normal, albeit unacceptable, behaviors that indicate serious mental illness. SEBD maymanifest as introverted, passive, depressive, or aggressive behavioral or self-destructive tendencies. Even UNESCO (2009) emphasizes that what is considered socially acceptable behavior in one culture and religious and traditional context may be unacceptable in another. Social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties are therefore highly sensitive to the background and situation of the children concerned.

Method

The systematic review of the literature involved multiple phases: to identify studies on this topic, we started with an initial identification of potential studies via an advanced keyword search of the databases SCOPUS and ERIC in December 2013–January 2014; subsequently, abstracts and titles were screened; reference lists and bibliographies of all retrieved papers were hand searched; and finally an in-depth review and theoretical analysis of nine full articles was made. The keywords used were “special education needs”, “inclusion”, “teacher attitudes”, “elementary school”, “primary school”, and “mainstream school” with different combinations. Thirty-eight articles were identified. To select studies with relevance for this review question, the following criteria must be conformed in the study: - Contained empirical data - Peer reviewed - Focused on teacher’s attitudes in a specific country - Provided empirical data on teacher’s attitudes towards different categories of SEN - Assessed to hold high or medium quality according to SBU's criteria. SBU’s (Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment) methodological manual about SBU's main task, i.e., a systematic review of practices in health care—health technology assessment. The main purpose is to be a guide for experts in the SBU projects and for employees on how to conduct the assessment work in a systematic, consistent, and transparent manner. The initial sift was done by checking the titles and the second by reading through abstracts and summaries to consider their relevance for this review question. Of the 17 studies that met the relevance criteria, eight were then sifted out because of not satisfying the selected criteria. The different studies were conducted in a range of different countries, and started from 1994 (The Salamanca declaration) through today. The Salamanca declaration was the starting point for the inclusion movement. To contextualize the findings of the review, an overview of the findings, conclusions, and discussions will be presented. Structured around the studies, a summary, discussion, and conclusion of the outcomes of the review will also be presented. This involves a general overview concerning research foci and methods, associated theoretical frameworks and then a thematic analysis of international research. Finally, the implications for further research and practice are considered. The special educational research is highly relevant because the problems concerning inclusion still exist.

Expected Outcomes

The purpose of this review was to gain more knowledge about how the inclusion of pupils with behavior problems in mainstream schools is perceived in different countries. Ten different countries are represented—each with their own distinctive cultural and socio-economic status. Despite the different school systems and school cultures, six studies came to the same conclusion as previous research (Avramidis & Norwish, 2002; De Boer, Pijl, & Minnaert, 2010), that pupils with behavior problems are the SEN pupils who are most difficult to include in a mainstream classroom. In contrast to earlier reviews, the Greek, Ghanaian, and Dubaian studies did not find SEBD most problematic. They consider pupils with visual and hearing problems and those with severe intellectual difficulties their greatest concern. Those studies emphasized the fact that teachers’ attitudes differ among countries and the importance for each country to interpret the inclusion agenda from a perspective to develop policies and regulations of individual countries in order to meet local situations and standards, which can be compared with UNESCO’s (2009) discussion about the importance of culture for the perception of what is SEBD, and what is not. The reason why teachers in some countries as opposed to others believe that pupils with EBS are the most difficult students in SEN to include may depend on the difficulty of making international comparisons between different categories of disability. When not all countries use categories, the categories used are not uniform within countries, and the definitions of the categories, when available, vary among countries (OECD, 2007), this will continue. This study reveals the importance of further research, pertaining to both the definition of SEBD and to how different cultures perceive what SEBD is, in order to successfully implement inclusion for all children.

References

Avramidis, E. & Norwich, B. (2002). Teachers’ attitudes towards integration/inclusion: A review of the literature. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 17( 2), 129–49. Cook, B. G. (2001). A comparison of teachers’ attitudes toward their included students with mild and severe disabilities. Journal of Special Education, 34(4), 203–213. De Boer, A., Pijl, S. J., & Minnaert, A. (2010). Regular primary schoolteachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education: A review of the literature. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 1(1), 1–24. OCED. (2008). Students with disabilities, learning difficulties and disadvantages: Statistics and indicators. OCED Publication. doi: 10.1787/9789264027619-en SBU. (2013). Utvärdering av metoder i hälso- och sjukvården: En handbok. Version 2013- 05-16 Stockholm: Statens beredning för medicinsk utvärdering (SBU). Retrieved from www.sbu.se/metodbok den 2014-01-22. Socialstyrelsen. (2010). Barn som utmanar: Barn med ADHD och andra beteendeproblem. Retrieved from http://www.socialstyrelsen.se/publikationer2010/2010-3-6 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). (1994). The Salamanca statement and framework for action on special needs education. New York: UNESCO. Unesco. (2009). Embracing Diversity: Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments Specialized Booklet 3). Bangkok: UNESCO. Retrieved from http://www2.unescobkk.org/elib/publications/243_244/Teaching_children.pdf

Author Information

Ulrika Gidlund (presenting / submitting)

Midsweden university

Department of education

Härnösand

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