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The English Language Teachers’ Perception Of Inclusive Education
[A CASE STUDY OF THE UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION IN KWARA STATE]
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In order for inclusion to work in practice, teachers in regular schools in Nigeria must accept its philosophies and demands. According to Salend and Duhaney (1999), educators have varying attitudes towards inclusion, their responses being shaped by a range of variables such as their success in implementing inclusion, student characteristics, training and levels of support. Some studies reported positive outcomes for general teachers, including increased skills in meeting the needs of all their students and developing an increased confidence in their teaching ability. Negative outcomes included the fear that the education of non-disabled children might suffer and the lack of funds to support instructional needs. For special educators, the benefits included an increased feeling of being an integral part of the school community and the opportunity to work with students without disabilities.
It is observed from the literature that available studies on inclusive education have sighed away from including variables such as influence of gender, i.e. whether or not the male teachers have better perception than their female counterpart; similarly. Qualification, in terms of whether or not there is variation in the teachers’ perception based on their qualification and the years of experience in teaching. It is on this note that this current study intends to focus on these variables in terms of determining whether they can influence teachers’ perception of inclusive education.
1.1 Statement of the Problem
Education situation, according to Gunter (1990, P.34), is an inter-subjective relation of mutual appeal and response which needs the correct and true cognitive attitude of an educator towards the learner to be the person-attitude not observer attitude. In view of this contention, therefore, the implementation of new policy of inclusive education needs to be accepted by all people involved, especially teachers who are expected to be the implementing agents. They need to take ownership and have inter-subjective relation of mutual appeal with learners with special educational needs. Given the nature of attitudes that teachers hold towards inclusion in studies referred to above its success is facing a tremendous challenge. Engelbrecht and Forlin, (Pp. 8-9), for instance, contend that introduction of inclusion raises suspicion and conflict among teachers, and its success rests on the ability of the process of implementation not to alienate or threaten, but to meet teachers and students where they are and responding to their needs in a supportive way. It also needs to be considered that if inclusion is intended to provide quality education for all leaner’s irrespective of their abilities, inclusive practices alone do not necessarily lead to quality of educational opportunity instead it may constitute a great educational inequality if educators are not accepting of and support with the implementation (Forlin, Douglas & Hattie, 1996, p.l3O). Inclusive education is not new but has not been practiced in the Nigerian schools, most especially secondary schools over the years.
Literature has revealed limited studies on inclusive education in the Nigerian secondary school education context. For instance, Ajuwon (2008) examined inclusive education for students with disabilities in Nigeria by considering its benefits and challenges together with the policy implication. The author used a theoretical approach at the expense of empirical investigation. So also Fakolade, Adeniyi and Tella (2009) explored the attitudes of teachers about inclusion of special needs children in their secondary schools in general education. ‘The findings revealed that the female teachers have more positive attitude towards the inclusion of special needs students than their male counterparts. Mba (1991) carried out a study on the attitude of teachers towards the inclusion of hard-of-hearing students in general education classroom; it was revealed that the attitude of teachers indicated hesitancy of the teachers to accept the hard-of-hearing unless the communication barrier was obviated. The current study is different from this one because it focus on inclusive education in general which the former focused on a specific special group i.e. the hard-of-hearing students. Also, Ogbue (1995) reported an interview conducted in Lagos State on the issue of inclusion of special need children in general education classroom, The findings revealed that out of the 200 regular primary school teachers interviewed, 60% of them rejected inclusion, while 35% indicated they would want inclusion provided they were adequately trained. The remaining 5% were undecided. This study is also different from the current one in view of the fact that it focused on the acceptance or otherwise of the inclusive education by the teachers. Looking at these studies all together, only Fakolade et al. study seem to be a bit related in terms of focusing on gender which is just one of the variables focused in the current study. Therefore, including variables such as gender. Qualification and teaching experience in other to determine whether or not the influence perception on inclusive education by the English teachers is germane.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]ABSTRACT IS COMING SOON ... Continue reading---
QUESTIONNAIRE - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]QUESTIONNAIRE ON ATTITUDE OF TEACHERS ON INCLUSIVEEDUCATIONInstructionsThe purpose of this questionnaire is to obtain information relating to what you think about inclusive education of students with disabilities. All information in this questionnaire is provided anonymously and will be treated then analyzed under the framework of this research only. This is not a test. Thus, there is no right or wrong answer. All you have to do is to tick the option as applicable to you.SECTION A: GENERAL INFOR ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER TWO - [ Total Page(s): 13 ]They also believe that special students differ, some may learn faster and easily while others may learn with difficulty. Another important issue they highlight is that students’ behavior may be beyond reproach and frequently inappropriate, while others may have problems emanating from their speech, language or culture. The concept of inclusive education programming, for BaneIji and Dailey (1995, p. 511), is based on the premise that children of exceptional abilities and backgrounds benefi ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER THREE - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]CHAPTER THREERESEARCH METHODOLOGY3.0 This chapter presents the research method that would be used to carry out the study which is on the perception of the English language teachers of Inclusive education in the Universal Basic Education in Kwara State. The discussion on the methods will include:a. Research typeb. Population, sample and sampling techniqueC. Instrumentationd. Procedure for data collection ande. Data analysis technique f. Research type3.1 Research TypeThis research would use ... Continue reading---
REFRENCES - [ Total Page(s): 3 ]REFERENCES Ajuwon, P. M. (2008). Inclusive education for students with disabilities in Nigeria: Benefits and challenges and policy implications. International Journal of Special Education, 23(3), 11-16.Ali, M.M., Mustapha, R. and Jelas, Z. M. (2006). An empirical study on teachers’ perceptions towards inclusive education in Malaysia. International Journal of special Education, Vol. 21 (3).Allan, J. (1995) How are we doing? Teacher's views on the effectiveness of co-operative teaching. Sup ... Continue reading---
