My Action Research topic is to study the teachers' attitude towards Inclusion.
I’ve been an Inclusion teacher for almost eight years now, and I’ve noticed that teachers have a diverse attitude toward this service. Many favor the implementation of Inclusion, while others don’t support it at all. These attitudes reflect on how students’ perceive the Inclusion service. Special education students are the Inclusion teachers’ focus, but they don’t have to be targeted in a classroom. Some students appreciate the assistance that they receive, but others feel embarrassed. Many teachers like having a co-teacher in the classroom, while others feel threatened. The general education teachers’ attitude has a lot to do with how the classroom reacts to the Inclusion teacher. On the other hand, the special education teachers’ attitude impacts greatly how this service is perceived by the teachers and their students as well. If the Inclusion teacher believes in the service, she will try to inform the general education teachers about the service to better assist the students. If the special education teacher is not well informed or if the is not welcomed in a classroom, the attitude will reflect on the students as well.
I believe that conducting a research targeting the teacher’s attitude toward Inclusion will benefit the overall campus academic success, impacting student achievement as well as their teachers’ performance. Recognizing their points of view toward this service will help any campus improve the benefits of this service by creating a positive attitude which in turn will impact the many benefits that Inclusion provides.
I have mixed feelings about inclusion. I am an ESL teacher and administrators tend to put special students in these classrooms because it is their impression that ESL teachers provide more "hands on" learning which I do not quite agree with. Anyway, I think it is very important for the inclusion and the regular teacher to work together and be on the same page for inclusion to work.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, inclusion and regular education teachers are and should be a team in order to benefit the student. I know that many teachers and administrators have a misconception about inclusion and overall special education. If a student is labeled as "special ed" because he/she has a language problem, then the student may not be a true special ed. student. Placing these student in an ESL class will not solve the problem, but many adminstrators/teachers seem to believe that it will solve the situation. Everyone needs professional development on this area!
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