Attitudes of Flemish teachers towards inclusion in higher education: an exploratory study

Author(s):

Elke Emmers(presenting / submitting)Dieter Baeyens Katja Petry

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

04. Inclusive Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

04 SES 09 B, Transition to Higher Education and Employment

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-25

13:30-15:00

Room:

OB-H0.12

Chair:

Gottfried Biewer

Contribution

The prevalence of students with disabilities in higher education in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) has increased in recent years (SIHO, 2009; Centre for Diversity and Learning, 2012). In a study of Boulanger (2013), 14.8% of the surveyed students said that they have a disability. The largest group consisted of students with learning disabilities (40.8%). To ensure full participation in higher education, these students need additional support, such as reasonable accommodations, special learning tools and specific teaching staff (United Nations, 2006). In Flanders, the additional support provided are mainly reasonable accommodations such as reading software, the use of a computer in exams, or additional exam duration (Emmers, Mattys, Baeyens, Petry, 2014). Despite these efforts to eliminate or neutralize the effects of the disability, many students still face difficulties such as incomprehension and insecurity (e.g. on the use of reasonable accommodations) and negative attitudes by teachers in higher education (Mullins & Preyde, 2012). Research has shown that the elements of success for an inclusive approach are the confidence that teachers have in their own knowledge (self-efficacy), skills and attributes to implement inclusive education along with other factors such as positive attitudes and contextual variables (TschannenMoran and Woolfolk-Hoy 2001; Forlin et al. 2009).

The student population with disabilities in the Flemish colleges has risen in recent years but there is no insight into the attitudes of Flemish teachers towards this target group and the use of reasonable accommodations or their self-efficacy to teach in an inclusive educational practice. To be able to develop a policy addressing these problems of incomprehension and misunderstandings by teachers in higher education in the future, there is a need to explore the factors associated with attitudes and self-efficacy for Flemish teachers. This study focuses on the following research questions:

(1) What are the attitudes of teachers towards support practice (reasonable accommodations) and students with disabilities?

(2) What are factors that are related to attitudes and self-efficacy (e.g. age, gender, experience...) for Flemish teachers?

Method

Participants We recruited teachers in higher education through contact persons in 19 different institutions in Flanders. In total, 75 teachers participated. Measures To obtain a complete overview on the attitudes of teachers towards support practice (reasonable accommodations), attitudes towards students with disabilities and the confidence that teachers have in their own knowledge, skills and attributes to implement inclusive education (self-efficacy), we designed an online questionnaire complemented by two standardized questionnaires. The online questionnaire included themes such as background characteristics teachers (e.g. age, employment, gender) and propositions on the perception and experience on the use of reasonable accommodations. The two standardized questionnaires (SACIE -R and TEIP) were completed in order to gain insight into the attitude and self-efficacy components. The SACIE-R (Forlin, Earle, Loreman & Sharma, 2011) was designed to measure the three fundamental constructs of inclusive education in teachers; i.e. attitudes towards accepting learners with different needs, concerns about inclusive education and sentiments about people with disabilities. This scale provides a 15-item measure of perceptions about inclusion scored on a 4-point Likert scale. The TEIP scale (Sharma, Loreman & Forlin, 2012) contains three factors: efficacy to use inclusive instruction, efficacy in collaboration, and efficacy in managing behavior with a total of 18 items using a six point Likert scale to measure teachers self-efficacy. These questionnaires were adjusted to suit the target population of teachers in higher education and distributed using an online link in an e-mail using the online software of Qualtrics. Analysis The data gathered from both online questionnaires were loaded into the statistical computer program SPSS version 22.0. After data cleaning, the results of both questionnaires were linked at the level of the participant and were analyzed by theme.

Expected Outcomes

Attitudes on students with disabilities In the first questionnaire, teachers were asked about their views on students with disabilities. They had to assess the extent to which this may or may not occur in their situation addressing some propositions. We found that teachers most often indicate that it never happens that they make a negative comment themselves about students with disabilities. However, they indicate that it sometimes happens that other teachers make negative comments about students with disabilities but that students are never mocked by other teachers. We also see that they indicate most often that it happens regularly that they speak respectfully themselves about students with disabilities, which is also the case in their opinion about other teachers. Teachers most often disagree with the statement that students with disabilities are seen as "special". We found the same conclusion for the statement that students with disabilities are seen as posers. Teachers most often agree with the idea that students with disabilities are seen as "normal" and as people with a " request for help ". Attitudes on the use of reasonable accommodations The majority of teachers indicated that they find reasonable accommodations meaningful and that all students are entitled to reasonable accommodations. A lot of teachers find that they put in extra effort to provide reasonable accommodations. It was reported that reasonable accommodations are not perceived to be very effective. The results of the SACIE-R and the TEIP have not been processed yet but will be added to these results looking into different factors that can be related to attitudes and self-efficacy (e.g. age, gender, experience...) to gain insight in the Flemish educational situation.

References

Boulanger, V. (2013). Studeren met een ‘functiebeperking’ of studeren met een ‘handicap’: Onderzoek naar het profiel van studenten met een functiebeperking in het Vlaamse hoger onderwijs [Masterproef]. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen. Emmers, E., Mattys, L., Baeyens, D., Petry, K. (2014) Research report OBPWO study 12:02: Inclusive higher education: multi-actor, multi-method study on the procedure and use of support (reasonable accommodations) for students with disabilities. KU Leuven, Leuven. Forlin, C., Earle, C., Loreman, T., & Sharma, U. (2011). The sentiments, attitudes, and concerns about inclusive education revised (SACIE-R) scale for measuring pre-service teachers’ perceptions about inclusion. Exceptionality Education International, 21(3), 50-65. Forlin, C., Loreman, T., Sharma, U. & Earle, C. (2009) ‘Demographic differences in changing pre-service teachers' attitudes, sentiments and concerns about inclusive education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 13, pp. 195–209. Mullins, L., & Preyde, M. (2012). The lived experience of students with an invisible disability at a Canadian university. Disability & Society, 28(2), 147-160. Murray, C., Wren, C.T. & Keys, C. (2008). University Faculty Perceptions of Students with Learning Disabilities: Correlates and Group Differences. Learning Disability Quarterly, 31(3), 95-113. Geraadpleegd op http://www.jstor.org/stable/25474642 . Sharma, U., Loreman, T., & Forlin, C. (2012). Measuring teacher efficacy to implement inclusive practices. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 12(1), 12-21. Steunpunt diversiteit & leren. (2012). Diversiteitspraktijken in het hoger onderwijs [pdf]. Geraadpleegd op http://www.diversiteitenleren.be/sites/default/files/4Groeiend_aantal_studenten_met_functiebeperkingen_Cursief_0.pdf Steunpunt Inclusier Hoger Onderwijs. (2009). Informatieronde: diepgaande bevraging bij Vlaamse Hogescholen en universiteiten. Brugge, België. Geraadpleegd op http://www.siho.be/files/Gidsen/Rapport%20informatieronde.pdf Tschannen-Moran, M., Woolfolk, H. A. & Hoy, W. K. (1998) ‘Teacher efficacy: its meaning and measure. Review of Educational Research, 68, pp. 202–48. Verenigde Naties. (2006, 13 december). Verdrag inzake de rechten van personen met een handicap. Geraadpleegd op http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/specifieke-onderwijsbehoeften/leerzorg/VN/verdrag.pdf Vignes, C., Godeau, E., Sentenac, M., Coley, N., Niavarro, F., Grandjean, H., & Arnaud, C. (2009). Determinants of student’s attitudes towards peers with disabilities. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology (51), 473-479. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2009.03283.x.

Author Information

Elke Emmers (presenting / submitting)

KU Leuven

Wilsele

Dieter Baeyens

KU Leuven, Belgium

Katja Petry

KU Leuven

Leuven

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