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硕士学位论文武汉市幼儿园教师对特殊儿童

融合教育的态度研究

学位申请人姓名:艾琳 Juselene Oliveira Centeio

申请学位学生类别: 全日制硕士

申请学位学科专业: 特殊教育

指导教师姓名: 雷江华副教授

硕士学位论文武汉市幼儿园教师对特殊儿童融合教育的态度研究

论文作者：艾琳 Juselene Oliveira Centeio

指导教师：雷江华副教授学科专业：特殊教育研究方向：融合教育

华中师范大学教育院2014 年 5 月

KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS INCLUSIVE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN THE

REGULAR CLASSROOM IN WUHAN, CHINA

DissertationSubmitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement

for the Master of Arts in Special Education

By

Juselene Oliveira Centeio

College of Education

Central China Normal UniversitySupervisor: Jianghua Lei

Academic Title: Associate Professor Signature _______________

Approved

May, 2014

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原创性声明

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作者签名：导师签名：日期：年月日日期：年月日本人已经认真阅读“CALIS 高校学位论文全文数据库发布章程”,同意将本人

的学位论文提交“CALIS 高校学位论文全文数据库”中全文发布,并可按“章程”中的规定享受相关权益。同意论文提交后滞后：□半年；□一年；□二年发布。

作者签名：导师签名：日期：年月日日期：年月日STATEMENT OF DECLARATION BY THE AUTHOR

I hereby declare that this thesis is an independent investigation and that all sources of materials used herein have been adequately acknowledged. It has been submitted to the

Graduate School, College of Education, Central China Normal University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Master of Arts degree in Special Education.

I solemnly declare that this thesis has not and will not be submitted to any other institution, anywhere for the award of any degree, diploma or certificate.

Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Request for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript, in whole or in part, may be granted by the head of the major of the Dean of College of Education, when in his or her judgment, the proposed use of the material is in the interest of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author.

Name __________________________Signature _______________________e-mail:[email protected]: Central China Normal UniversityDate of Submission: ______________

DEDICATION

To my nephew Sergio Centeio, who had been denied the right to education because of his needs. I have been working hard to demonstrate to you that “the only disability in life is a

bad attitude” (Scott Hamilton)To my Mother Alzerina Oliveira, who is not with me anymore to share this joy.

摘要随着融合教育的发展，中国逐渐出台相关政策，要求将特殊学生安置在普通学

校中接受义务教育。本研究的目的是探讨湖北省武汉市幼儿园教师对特殊儿童随班就读的态度，以及他们对特殊儿童随班就读的责任感。武汉市 90 位公立和私立幼儿园的教师参与了此项调查。描述性分析结果表明，在一般情况下，幼儿园教师对特殊儿童随班就读持消极或者是模棱两可的态度。研究发现，教师对融合教育的态度与他们的人口统计学变量（年龄、学历、从教年限、教授特殊儿童的经验、与特殊儿童相处的时间和接受特殊教育培训的时间）之间无显著差异。而教师对融合教育的态度与他们对随班就读的责任感之间存在显著相关。结果表明，为实现融合教

育，一些重要的方面是必不可少的。关键词：中国; 残疾；幼儿教育；融合教育；教师态度

Abstract

After the international trends towards inclusive education, Chinese legislations

mandate the inclusion of students with disabilities into the regular education classroom.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the kindergarten teachers’ attitudes towards

inclusive education of children with disabilities in the regular classroom, in Wuhan,

China, as well their sense of responsibility to include children with disabilities in regular

classroom. Ninety kindergarten teachers from public and private kindergartens in Wuhan

participated in this study. Descriptive analysis demonstrated that, in general, kindergarten

teachers we studied have negative or contradictory attitudes towards inclusive education

of children with disabilities in regular classroom. Statistically non-significant differences

were found between teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and teachers’ demographic

variables (age, education degree, teaching experience, experience teaching children with

disabilities, time experience with children with disabilities and training in special

education). Significant correlation was found between teachers’ attitudes towards

inclusive education and their sense of responsibility to include children with disabilities

in regular classroom. The results allowed the identification of some crucial aspects

necessary to achieve the inclusive education.

Keywords: China; disability; early childhood education; inclusive education; teachers’ attitudes

TABLE OF CONTENT

STATEMENT OF DECLARATION BY THE AUTHOR..............................................I

DEDICATION..................................................................................................................II

摘要...............................................................................................................................III

Abstract............................................................................................................................IV

CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION................................................................................1

1.1 Background of the Problem.......................................................................................1

1.2 Purpose of the Research.............................................................................................5

1.3 Research Questions....................................................................................................5

1.4 Statement of the Problem...........................................................................................6

1.5 Research Significance................................................................................................7

1.6 Definition of Terms....................................................................................................8

1.6 The Structure of the Dissertation...............................................................................8

CHAPTER 2 — LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................10

2.1 Development of Inclusive Education.......................................................................10

2.2 Inclusive Education: an International Perspective on Policy and Practice..............11

2.3 Factors related to the Implementation of Inclusive Education................................13

2.4 Inclusive Education in China...................................................................................14

2.5 Children with Disabilities in China.........................................................................17

2.6 Early Childhood Inclusive Education in China.......................................................18

2.7 Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusive Education....................................................20

2.8 Teachers’ Attitudes towards kindergarten Inclusive Education in China................23

2.9 Factors Related to Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusion.......................................24

CHAPTER 3—METHODOLOGY...............................................................................27

3.1 Research Design......................................................................................................27

3.2 Participants..............................................................................................................28

3.3 Instrument................................................................................................................30

3.4 Research Procedures................................................................................................31

3.5 Data Analysis...........................................................................................................31

CHAPTER 4 — RESULTS.............................................................................................33

4.1 Research Question1.................................................................................................33

4.2 Research Question 2................................................................................................36

4.3 Research Question 3................................................................................................39

CHAPTER 5 — DISCUSSION......................................................................................41

5.1 Kindergarten Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusive Education of Children with Disabilities in Regular Classroom in Wuhan, China.....................................................41

5.2 Differences between Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusion and Demographic Variables........................................................................................................................42

5.3 The Influence of Teachers’ Attitudes on their Sense of Responsibility to Include Children with Disabilities in the Regular Classroom....................................................43

5.3.1Limitations......................................................................................................445.3.2 Conclusions...................................................................................................455.3.3 Recommendations........................................................................................46

REFERENCES................................................................................................................47

APPENDICES.................................................................................................................53

APPENDIX A...............................................................................................................53

APPENDIX B...............................................................................................................54

APPENDIX C..............................................................................................................55

APPENDIX D..............................................................................................................59

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...............................................................................................62

LIST OF TABLE

Table 1 Participants Demographic Information.............................................................25Table 2 The Percentage of Responses on Survey Items.................................................29Table 3 Statistical Differences between Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusion and

Demographic Variables ..................................................................................31

Table 4 Correlation among Teachers’ Attitudes and Sense of Responsibility ...............34

LIST OF FIGUREFigure 1: Conceptual Framework for Teacher Attitudes ................................................20Figure 2: Frequency Distribution of Participants’ Ages..................................................24Figure 3 Influence of teachers’ attitudes on sense of responsibility................................34

ACRONYMS

UNESCO - United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization UNICEF - United Nations International Children’s Emergency FundSEN - Special Educational Needs

CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Problem

Early childhood is a particularly sensitive phase in a child’s physical, cognitive,

social and emotional development. It is a crucial phase of growth and development

because experiences during this phase may influence future development of aptitudes and

personality throughout the entire course of an individual’s life (World Health

Organization, 2012). In this sense, the Salamanca Framework for Action on Special

Needs Educationproclaims that “the success of the inclusive school depends considerably

on early identification, involvement, assessment and stimulation of the very young child

with special educational needs […] programmes at this level should recognize the

principle of inclusion and be developed in a comprehensive way by combining preschool

activities and early childhood health care.” (Article 53)

It is crucial for the teachers to understand child development in order to promote

their full development and quality learning, especially those with disabilities. Given that,

it is also needed to start early in children’s education in order to challenge and improve

beliefs and attitudes, that are exclusionary with respect to children with disabilities in

educational settings. The change in attitudes and beliefs towards people with disabilities

can start from understanding disabilities. The successful implementation of any inclusive

policy is essentially dependent on teachers being positive about it (Avramidis, Bayliss &

Burden, 1999).

Over the past decades, inclusive education became recognized as a global and

developmental process to overcome the barriers and address the needs of all children,

especially those who are vulnerable and excluded from the society and educational

system. It became the most important and controversial issue regarding the education of

children with special educational needs around the world.

China as well as other countries, has made great efforts to ensure the right to

education and promote equal access for all. Chinese policies have underlined the need for

inclusive education. The Education Law of the People’ s Republic of China, Article 38

declares that: “the state, society, schools and other educational institutions shall organize

education in consideration of the physical and mental characteristics and requirements of

disabled people and offer them assistance and convenience” (Education Law of the

People’ s Republic of China, 1995). The Chinese Government has put effort to extend

inclusive education into preschool education and has made it priority (Hu, Roberts, Yang

& Zhao 2011).

The fundamental principle of inclusive education was first formulated in the World

Declaration on Education for All (1990), by advocating that every child shall be able to

benefit from educational opportunities designed to meet their rights and needs. A few

years later the Salamanca Statement (1994) proclaims that every child has a fundamental

right to education, and must have access to regular schools which should accommodate

them within a child-centred approach capable of meeting their needs.

Furthermore, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO) Dakar Framework for Action adopted a World Declaration on Education for

All (EFA, 2000), declares that “education systems must be inclusive, actively seeking out

children who are not enrolled, and responding flexibly to the circumstances and needs of

all learners” (2000, p. 16).

Based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

(2006), this document also recognizes the right to education and disseminates the

philosophy of inclusion. Article 24 (2) of the Convention provides that:

“in realizing this right, States Parties shall ensure that: (a) persons with

disabilities are not excluded from the general education system on the basis of

disability and that children with disabilities are not excluded from free and

compulsory primary education, or from secondary education, on the basis of

disability; (b) persons with disabilities can access an inclusive, quality and free

primary education and secondary education on an equal basis with others in the

communities in which they live.” (United Nations, 2006, p.17)

According to Tomasevski (2004), the legal obligations of governments relatively

the right to education are structured according to the following scheme: a) availability -

refers to obligation to ensure compulsory and free education for all children; b)

accessibility - refers to obligation to eliminate exclusion from education based on the

internationally prohibited grounds of discrimination (race, color, sex, language, religion,

opinion, origin, economic status, birth, social status, minority or indigenous status,

disability) and obligation to eliminate gender and racial discrimination by ensuring equal

satisfaction of all human rights in practice; c) acceptability - refers to obligation to set

minimum standards for education, including the medium of instruction, contents and

methods of teaching, to improve the quality of education by ensuring that the entire

education system conforms to all human rights; and d) adaptability - refers to obligation

to design and implement education for children excluded from regular education system

and obligation to adapt education to the interests of each child, especially children with

disabilities, or minority and indigenous children.

Widely understood, it means that all children should have equal opportunities to

develop their potential regardless of their characteristics. These changes in educational

system, both national and international levels, have placed new demands on the teaching

practices and methods used in the classroom, by the fact that there is a significant

increase in diversity of students in the classroom. This is considered a positive change for

students with special educational needs (SEN), particularly those with disabilities.

However, after two decades of global trends towards inclusive education, more than

57 million children of primary school age continue to be denied the right to education,

almost one-half (49%) will probably never enter school. A further 23% have attended

school but dropped out, and the remaining 28% are expected to enter school in the future

(UNESCO, 2013). In addition, 98% of children with disabilities in developing countries

do not attend school, and 99% of girls with disabilities are illiterate (UNESCO, 2007a).

Similarly, many students leave school with no quality education, others are placed in

various forms of special education away from mainstream educational system, and some

simply choose to drop out since the education seem irrelevant to their lives (Ainscow &

Myles, 2009).

This suggests that even if they are enrolled in the school, their needs and interest

are not being fully met. Education for All refers to the possibility of the educational

system to create the required conditions, so that all children may have the equal

opportunities to receive a quality education. In other words, it means that educational

systems should provide more human and material resources needed to ensure an inclusive

educational system.

It becomes difficult to implement inclusive education without consider the teachers’

attitudes towards inclusion, once the success of inclusive education depends in part on the

teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and their knowledge and skills for working with

children with disabilities.

Allport (as cited in Gagne, 1977) defines attitude as “a mental and neutral state of

readiness, organized through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon

the individual’s response to all objects and situations with which it related.”

Attitude comprises three major components: cognitive, affective, and behavioral.

The cognitive component affects to knowledge and thoughts about the causes of the

behavior of children with disabilities in an inclusive setting. The affective component is

based on the cognitive understanding of a disability, which can motivate people to get

involved in working with children with disabilities, or produce feelings that could cause

them to exclude the those children from the classroom activities. The behavioral

component deals with a tendency to behave or respond in a particular way when in

contact with children who have disabilities (Leatherman & Niemeyer, 2005).

Teachers form attitudes toward children with disabilities and toward inclusive

education based on several factors: child’s characteristics, the environmental factors, and

their own characteristics, such as age, gender, education level, years of teaching

experience, and acquaintance with a person with a disability, having a family member

with a disability, or having other contact with a person with disability (Gal, Schreur &

Engel-Yeger, 2010). Consequently, teacher’s attitudes are reflected in their behavior and

can influence their interactions with children with disabilities. Therefore, to better

understand the inclusion of children with disabilities in the kindergarten, it is necessary to

understand the kindergarten teachers’ attitudes towards this phenomenon.

1.2 Purpose of the Research

The main principles of inclusive education is that all children, regardless of their

abilities, needs or interests, shall access, learn and participate together in mainstream

educational system (UNESCO, 1994). Nowadays, the basic education is seen as a human

right, and governments have the obligation to provide quality education for all children.

Thus, it is necessary to consider the teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education, in

order to organize the educational system with the necessary conditions to promote quality

education of all children, particularly those with disabilities, who tend to experience more

educational and social barriers.

This study has three purposes. First purpose of this study is to investigate the

kindergarten teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education of children with disabilities

in the regular classrooms in Wuhan, China. Second purpose is to examine whether exist

significant differences between teachers’ attitude towards inclusive education and

teachers’ demographic variables (age, education degree, teaching experience, and

experience teaching children with disabilities, time experience in teaching children with

disability and training in special education). The last purpose is to examine whether exist

influence of teachers’ attitudes on their sense of responsibility to include children with

disabilities in the regular classroom.

1.3 Research Questions

The fundamental focus of this research is kindergarten teachers’ attitudes towards

inclusive education. This study is guided by the following research questions:

• What are the kindergarten teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education of

children with disabilities in regular classrooms in Wuhan, China?

• Are there statistically significant differences between teachers’ attitudes towards

inclusive education and teachers’ demographic variables (age, education degree,

teaching experience, experience teaching children with disabilities, time

experience in teaching children with disabilities, and training on special

education)?

• Is there influence of teachers’ attitudes on their sense of responsibility to include

children with disabilities in the regular classroom?

1.4 Statement of the Problem

The inclusion of children with disabilities in regular classroom became an

important issue of debate in the past decades. More precisely, after the World Conference

on Education for All in 1990, meeting the student’s basic learning needs, the challenge of

inclusion has been put on the political agenda in many countries. The recent trends

resulted in changing educational policies and in adapting regular classroom in order to

include all students, including those with disabilities. Therefore, school systems have

experienced an increase of children with disabilities included in regular classroom. Over

the past decades, this has resulted in an increased interest in teachers’ attitudes towards

this educational phenomenon.

For kindergarten students with and without disabilities, educational objectives are

most often referenced to cognitive, language, social, or motor development, or adaptive

behavior. Such developmental skills are the basis for the future learning. That’s why, the

inclusion at this level, differs substantially from the other school levels. Thus, inclusive

early childhood education goes beyond the placement in the educational setting. It is also

active participation in social interactions and the development of children’s abilities and

skills (Underwood, 2013).

Several factors influence the success of implementing an inclusive school. One of

the most important factors is teacher’s attitudes, role and responsibilities towards

including children with disability in regular classroom. According to UNESCO (2005),

the role and responsibilities of teachers is critical in any reforms of providing and

improving the quality of education, therefore inclusive approach from teachers requires

specialist professional knowledge and competences in order to effectively teach and meet

to a diverse population of students in the classroom. Because of the fact that teachers are

a crucial part of a successful educational experience for children with disabilities, it is

essential to understand their attitudes towards children with disabilities in order to

provide those children an opportunity to have quality education.

1.5 Research Significance

“Inclusion is a process. That is to say, inclusion has to be seen as a never-ending

search to find better ways of responding to diversity” (Ainscow, 2005, p. 2). It is evident

that inclusion of children with disabilities in regular classroom may require great

intervention and support from teacher. Numerous studies have been explored teachers’

attitudes towards including students with disabilities in the regular education classroom.

However, further research must be done to understand teachers’ attitudes towards

inclusive education in the early childhood education. The research is significant due to

the fact that teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education affect the interactions and

supports that are provided in the classroom. Therefore, it is interesting to find out how do

regular kindergarten teachers face the process of implementing inclusive education in

practice, and what knowledge and experience do they possess towards inclusion of

children with disabilities in regular classroom. The significance of this research can be

proved by the following considerations:

• This research may help kindergarten teachers to improve their knowledge,

understanding and attitudes towards inclusive education and disabilities. It can

also provide them an opportunity to reflect on their attitudes and responsibilities

towards children with disabilities;

• This research may be used by the Chinese Ministry of Education to improve pre-

service and in-service kindergarten teacher education programs towards

inclusion;

• It may be helpful to discuss the current situation of China’s policy and practice

on inclusive education in kindergarten and its future development direction.

1.6 Definition of Terms

The following definitions are provided to ensure uniformity and understanding of

these terms throughout the research.

Attitude – as mentioned previously, attitudes are thoughts/ideas that reflect feelings

and influence behaviors related to an attitudinal object, individual, situation or

organization.

Disability – according to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,

persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual

or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may impede their full

and effective participation in society (United Nations, 2006).

Inclusive education – is a system which provides for the needs of a diverse range of

students and supports diversity, effectively eliminating all forms of discrimination. It can

be seen as a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all children,

youth and adults through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities,

and reducing and eliminating exclusion within and from education (UNESCO, 2009).

Early childhood education – the key form of provision of early childhood education

are kindergartens and one year pre-school classes (Zhang, Wang, Xu et al., 2013).

Learning in Regular Classroom (LRC) – “is a pragmatic model of inclusion that

has evolved out of a compromise between the Western concept of inclusion and practical

considerations related to Chinese social and educational conditions” (Deng & Zhu, 2007).

It is an approach that students with disabilities are educated in neighborhood schools in

mainstream classroom (Deng & Manset, 2000).

1.6 The Structure of the Dissertation

This research is reported in 5 chapters. In the chapter 1, the background of the

research, the purpose, the statement of the problem, the research questions, the research

significance and the definition of the terms have been provided. Chapter 2 provides a

brief overview of the United Nations, particularly the UNESCO policies that are affecting

global inclusive practices. It provides an overview of the current status on inclusive

education in China and early childhood inclusive education in China. It focuses on the

finding of several recent studies on teacher attitudes towards inclusive education in order

to synthesize their conclusions and underline their importance to the research topic. The

issues related to methodology are detailed in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 presents the results of

this research, and Chapter 5 discusses the findings, followed by the conclusion of the

research and recommendation for further research.

CHAPTER 2 — LITERATURE REVIEW

The purpose of this chapter is to consider global trends and development in

inclusive education, as well as, educational policies and practices towards inclusion.

Thus, this chapter addressed the following areas related to inclusion of children with

disabilities: (a) development of inclusive education, (b) an overview on inclusive

education: international perspective on police and practice, (c) factors related to the

implementation of inclusive education, d) inclusive education in China, (e) children with

disabilities in China, early childhood inclusive education in China, (f) teachers’ attitudes

towards inclusive education, (g) teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion in early education

in China, and (h) factors that influence attitudes towards inclusion.

2.1 Development of Inclusive Education

Historically, children with disabilities have been segregated in the special schools

and excluded from regular school practices and society. The historical development of

inclusive education extents over several decades within the educational settings and

affected many countries in the world. Its development involved three stages, during

which education systems have explored different ways of meeting to children with SEN:

educational segregation, educational integration and educational inclusion (Pekeberg,

2012). The first phase, educational segregation refers to the early attempts to provide

education for children with specific disabilities. This approach is characterized by

children receiving education in special schools (completely separated from mainstream

schools) based on their specific disability. The second phase, educational integration

refers to an approach that attempts at providing education for disabled and disadvantaged

children within mainstream classrooms or in special schools, only when they were

expected to be able to learn through the provision of regular classroom instruction. The

third phase, educational inclusion refers to an approach that aims to promote and ensure

all children’s opportunities to receive and benefit from education within regular

classrooms (Ibid).

United Nations has made a number of influential declarations regarding the

development of inclusive education, such as, the Convention against Discrimination in

Education (1960), the Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons (1975), and the

Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). Later, in 1994, inclusive education was put

forward as a concept in the Salamanca Statement. In this Statement, Article 3, inclusive

education is described as a framework for action that would accommodate all children:

“regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic or other

conditions. This should include disabled and gifted children, street and working children,

children from remote or nomadic populations, children from linguistic, ethnic or cultural

minorities and children from other disadvantaged or marginalized areas or groups…”

(UNESCO, 1994, p.6)

Inclusive education is based on a philosophy of values and beliefs on the

characteristics, interests and needs of the student. The goal of inclusive education is to

“fully tap the potentials of children with disabilities and promote their maximum physical

and mental development” (Lei & Deng, 2007). This means that the learning environment

must be adapted in order to promote social inclusion, quality education, and positive

interactions with peers and others in the school community.

2.2 Inclusive Education: an International Perspective on Policy and Practice

The promotion of inclusive education is strongly included in important policy

documents (Ainscow & Myles, 2009). International policy initiatives by the UNESCO

have enshrined the right to education for all. With these initiatives, there is an increasing

appreciation of the right to education for children with disabilities, although with various

forms of support to be provided in regular classrooms. There are several international

policies supporting inclusive education, in this section we present some which may be

helpful to understand current Chinese inclusive education status and its future

development.

The Salamanca Statement demonstrated an international commitment to inclusive education. It proclaims in its Article 2 that:

“every child has a fundamental right to education, and must be given the opportunity to achieve and maintain an acceptable level of learning; every child

has unique characteristics, interests, abilities and learning needs; education systems should be designed and educational programmes implemented to take into account the wide diversity of these characteristics and needs; those with special educational needs must have access to regular schools which should accommodate them within a child-centred pedagogy capable of meeting these needs.” (UNESCO, 1994, p. viii)

To achieve these goals, this Statement convenes all governments “to give the

highest policy and budgetary priority to improve their education systems to enable them

to include all children regardless of individual differences or difficulties.” (p.ix)

Dakar Framework for Education for All (2000), in which the international

community pledged to ensure education as a right for all people, regardless of individual

differences. It also states that inclusive education must incorporate not only primary

education, but also early childhood education.

Later, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities highlighted and

promoted the principles of equal opportunities for all. It states that persons with

disabilities should receive individualized support required, within the regular education

system that develops academic and social skills (United Nations, 2006).

Another international agreement encouraging the inclusive education philosophy is

No Child Left Behind Act, (2001), which aims to provide equal educational opportunity

and quality education for children with disabilities, by “ensuring that high-quality

academic assessments, accountability systems, teacher preparation and training,

curriculum, and instructional materials are aligned with challenging State academic

standards so that students, teachers, parents, and administrators can measure progress

against common expectations for student academic achievement” (U.S. Department of

Education, n.d).

In addition, the UNESCO’s Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education (2009) set

out the following justifications for working towards inclusive practices and educating all

children together: a) educational justification – inclusive schools have to develop ways of

teaching that respond to individual differences and benefit all children; b) social

justification – inclusive schools are able to change attitudes towards diversity and form

the basis for a just, non-discriminatory society; and c) economic justification – it costs

less to establish and maintain schools that educate all children together than to set up a

complex system of different schools specialized in different groups of children.

There is a consensus reflected in these international agreements that all children,

regardless their characteristics, should be educated in regular classroom alongside with

their peers without disabilities in an environment that values their needs and individual

characteristics.

2.3 Factors related to the Implementation of Inclusive Education

The successful implementation of inclusive practice depends on several factors.

The policy measures, school and cultural factors can be identified as critical for the

development and implementation of inclusive education. These factors concern issues

related to national education policies, curriculum, the allocation of materials and

facilities, and teachers’ attitudes and knowledge.

The European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education (2009)

suggests the following key principles for promoting quality in inclusive education:

• effective strategies to promote positive attitude;

• ensuring all teachers are trained and feel able to assume responsibility for all

students, whatever their individual needs;

• supporting the participation of students and their parents in educational decision

making;

• a view of students as process, not content based, and a main goal for all students

being the development of learning to learn skills, not just subject knowledge;

• the development of an Individual Education Plan or similar individualized

teaching program, for some students, who may require a more focused approach for

their learning;

• cooperative teaching where teachers take a team approach involving students

themselves, parents, peers, other school teachers and support staff, as well as

multidisciplinary team members as appropriate;

• cooperative learning where students help each other in different ways, including

peer tutoring, within flexible and well-thought out students groupings;

• collaborative problem solving involving systematic approaches to positive

classroom management;

• teacher assessment that supports learning and does not label or lead to negative

consequences for students.

From the above factors it can be understood that the strategies for promoting

inclusive education for all students within regular classrooms cannot be implemented in

isolation from the policy-makers, education community, parents, members of the local

community and media. In order to increase educational opportunities for all, a number of

factors must be in place to overcome barriers to the quality education of students.

There are several identified barriers linked to implementation of inclusive practices

in education, such as large class sizes, untrained teacher, limited teaching time, inflexible

school curriculum, limited resources, attitudinal factors, physical barriers, inadequate

funding and inadequate policies (UNESCO 2009). Hence, for implementing the inclusive

education practice, it is necessary to overcome such barriers.

2.4 Inclusive Education in China

The rapid social and economic development in the Chinese context in the last

decades has resulted in rapid development of special education in terms of new school

building, special education law, an increasing number of teacher education programs,

more research and better material resources. China, as other countries of the world, has

been making great effort in creating inclusive classroom under the influence of the

international trends towards inclusive education. The right of people with disabilities to

education is protected by law. The relevant laws contain clear statements regarding the

rights and interests of the people with disabilities. The Regulation on Education of the

Disabled states that education for person with disability shall be based on theirs needs

and characteristics. Relatively to the early childhood education, the Article 26 states that:

“preschool educational institution for children with disabilities, classes for children with disabilities attached to ordinary preschool educational institutions, preschool classes of special educational institutions and welfare institutions for children with disabilities and families of these children shall be responsible for preschool education of children with disabilities.” (China

Disabled Persons’ Federation, 2008)

The Regulation on Education of the Disabled also states that education of disabled

person is an obligation of the state, and also established that government should

strengthen leadership, planning and developing education for the disabled (ibid).

China has a long history of addressing the education of individuals with disabilities.

About 3000 years ago in the Zhou dynasty, the government began to establish specialized

institutions to train people with disabilities (Deng and Harris, 2008). The formal special

education for people with disabilities in China started in nineteenth century under the

influence of missionaries from Western countries (Zhang, Wang, Xu, et al., 2013). Since

that time several schools specialized in teaching students with disabilities and special

education teacher training schools have been established (ibid).

In 1980s, the meaning of inclusive education has been developed and extended in

Chinese education context (UNESCO, 2007b). Inclusive education has it origin in the

Gold-Key Education Project in 1987, which aimed at providing education particularly to

children with visual impairments in regular classroom in Shanxi, Jiangsu, Hebei and

Heilongjiang (Gu, 2009).

Later, in 90s the inclusive approach, termed suíbān jiùdú literally translates as

“Learning in Regular Classroom” (LRC) has been authorized in the policies for educating

into regular classroom children with disabilities (Yu, Su & Liu, 2011).

According to Liu (2009), the type of Learning in regular classroom students is

mental retardation (46.8%), learning with difficulties (17.7%), visual disability (8%),

hearing disability (12.7%) and others such as physical disability, multiple disabilities

(14.8%).

This movement has had broad influence on the Chinese special education system,

such as in providing children with disabilities the opportunity to attend class with

typically developing peers and it has changed the traditional education system (Gu, 2009)

and became the main form of providing compulsory education to children with

disabilities in China (Peng, 2011). It was a response to the large number of children with

disabilities, who were still being denied their right to education, especially in rural areas

(Deng & Poon-McBrayer, 2012). Consequently, it has contributed to the increase in the

education opportunities for the students, who had been excluded and denied access to

educational system. In 2010 the total number of official suíbān jiùdú students in regular

primary and junior middle schools was 255 662 (Malinen, 2013).

In 2004, a main document towards inclusive education, entitled “Developing

Experimental Unit of Including Young Children with Disabilities in Regular Classroom’s

Notice” was issued in China. This document focused on an education plan in which

young children with special needs in urban areas received 2 to 3 years of quality

education while those in rural areas received 1 to 2 years of quality education (Gu, 2009).

China also has cooperated with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on

projects such as “Child-Friendly Schools” to promote an accessible environment for

quality education, as well as an inclusive community. Therefore, to promote inclusive

education, the first step for China is to create an inclusive school culture, which requires

training of every student in the school in order for them to get acquainted to inclusive

education. The second step is to develop a policy to promote inclusive actions and rules.

The third step is to inform teachers, and through them inform parents, which is the most

difficult (UNESCO, 2007b).

Even though with the increase rate of students with disabilities in classroom, and

almost all policy documents have emphasized the right to education, many children with

disabilities still not have their right to education guaranteed. The students with disabilities

are often ignored in the classroom and may not receive adequate education (Deng &

Harris, 2008), because the teachers have neither enough time nor specific training to help

them (Kritzer, 2011). This is due to the fact that in-service training and professional

development programs for general education teachers do not include any special

education contents (Deng & Poon-McBrayer, 2012).

Despite the progress achieved in China, inclusive education implementation still

does not be successful as other countries. There is still much to be accomplished,

especially in special teacher education and professional development, teacher student

ratio in schools, and material resources. Relatively to the education of individuals with

disabilities, China still faces some challenges, for example the lack of financial support,

lack of legislative support for young children and their families, lack of collaboration and

teaming among the special education professionals in service delivery, lack of quality

special education teachers, and the disability label issues (Pang, 2009).

2.5 Children with Disabilities in China

The concept of disability varies greatly across countries. In China, the term “people

with disabilities” refers to those individuals who are diagnosed as having one of the

following conditions: intellectual disabilities, hearing or visual impairment, physical

disabilities, multiple disabilities, speech disorders and/or mental disorders (Hu, Roberts,

Yang & Zhao 2011).

By the fact that China has the largest population in the world, the country reports

high prevalence of people with disabilities. Thus, an appreciation of population with

disability in China is important to a better understanding of the current situation with

regard to inclusive education within the country. The Chinese government standards for

assessing disabilities uses six different disability categories which are (1) visual disability

(2) hearing disability (3) language disability (4) intellectual disability (5) physical

disability (6) mental disability (Malinen, 2013). About 8.502 million people have

disabilities in China. An estimated 45.9 million are school aged population (Zhang,

Wang, Xu et al. 2013). This number is expressively low estimate because learning

disabilities, emotional disorders, and communication disorders are not yet included in the

disability categories (Hu, 2009).

2.6 Early Childhood Inclusive Education in China

Early childhood inclusion has significant impact in child development and future

educational and social inclusion. Children develop rapidly during the first three years of

life, so early detection and intervention are particularly important (UNICEF, 2013). In

China there are two legal documents that have had a major impact on program quality in

the Chinese early childhood education and are currently affecting early childhood teacher

education (Hu, 2009). First, the Kindergarten Work Regulations and Procedures in 1989

as an effort to promote and measure the curriculum reform in early childhood education.

It emphasized individual differences, the importance of play and child-centred approach.

Second, the Guidelines for Kindergarten Education, the document reinforce the

importance of early childhood education and describe goals and content in early

childhood education in the five subject areas: health, science, social, language, and art

(ibid). Thus, in China early childhood education aims to promote children’s physical,

social and cognitive development through learning and playing under teachers guidance.

The early education of children with special needs has its origins in 1980s when

several special training classes for children with hearing impairment were established in

hospitals and rehabilitations centers (New & Cochran, 2007). Since that time, the Chinese

government has been put more effort on education for children with disabilities in the

regular classroom. Although, millions of children in China still have no opportunity to

attend pre-school or kindergarten, particular, girls, ethnic minority children, children with

disabilities and children affected by migration (UNICEF, n.d).

China faces some issues and challenges regarding the education of children with

disabilities, for example the assessment and referral system for the children with special

needs, the lack of appropriate assessment tool for the identification of children with

special needs, the lack of qualified teachers (New & Cochran, 2007), the competitive

school culture and traditional instructional practices and large class sizes have been seen

as major obstacles of inclusive education of children with disabilities in China (Malinen,

2013).

In order to provide quality education for all, Chinese government has encouraged

children with disabilities to study in the regular classrooms. Several specific strategies

have been adopted in order to effectively implement inclusive practices, such as, opening

of new teacher training institutions; providing teachers with intensive training in special

education; providing a special education curriculum in regular teacher training colleges;

presenting workshops for teachers in special education in different school districts;

promoting programmes for in-service training of teachers in regular schools (Chen, n.d).

In Beijing, some agencies have provided early childhood special education

services, such as physical therapy for children with physical disabilities (e.g. cerebral

palsy), speech therapy for children with hearing or language impairments and behavioral

therapy for children with autism (Hu, Roberts, Yang & Zhao 2011), and about 30 pilot

inclusion preschool were identified (Hu & Szente, 2010). There are other rehabilitation

centers that provides services for children with disabilities in different cities, such as

Hubei Rehabilitation Center for the Deaf, Qingdao School for the Blind and Guangzhou

for the Blind (Lei & Chen, 2013), Gao Yali Children's Rehabilitation Center in Shanghai,

that provide rehabilitation and special education for children with cerebral palsy, and so

forth. Some private kindergartens and childcare centers for children with mental

retardation, and private research centers for autism were established in Beijing, and other

large cities (Deng, Poon-Mcbrayer & Farnsworth, 2001).

In order to promote early intervention for children with disabilities, Chinese

community and family have adopted Sanzao theory, which encourages early discovery,

early diagnostic and early intervention to children with disabilities (Zhang, Wang, Xu, et

al., 2013). Preschool education and rehabilitation for children with disabilities are

implemented in large and midsize cities, thus these measures are nonexistent in rural

areas (Deng, Poon-Mcbrayer & Farnsworth, 2001).

The China Federation for the Disabled and other non-government organizations

have established many pre-school programs and institutions for educating children with

disabilities. Currently, there are over 1800 speech and hearing training institutions,

serving over 160.000 young children who are equipped with appropriate hearing aids.

There are also over 1,870 rehabilitation institutions, serving 27.000 young children with

intellectual disabilities (Deng & Poon-McBrayer, 2012). The government also plans to

maintain the existing special education schools as resource centers that provide inclusive

education for the students with profound special education needs (Malinen, 2013).

In short, education in China has experienced many changes over the last decades. In

Chinese education system, as in other countries, legislation and early childhood policy

has been developed to support equity and social justice for children with disabilities.

Nevertheless, despite the inclusive policies and practices, many children with disabilities

continue to experience exclusion from education system and struggle to access quality

education, which is contradictory to the philosophy of inclusion.

According to UNESCO (1994), in order to move educational systems towards

inclusion, it is needed a recognition of the right of children with disabilities to education

and its provision in non-discriminatory ways; a common vision of education which

covers all children regardless their characteristics; a principle that schools have a

responsibility to meet the diversity of needs of all students, recognizing that all children

can learn.

2.7 Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusive Education

This subsection provides an overview of the relevant previous research on teachers’

attitudes towards inclusive education. Understanding teachers’ attitudes can provide

important information to train future teachers for the diversity of needs in the classroom.

Therefore, this topic became the focus of extensive research over the past years. Several

studies on teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education of students with SEN have been

conducted in the world and have provided a range of information in this area.

Research conducted in United States showed that teacher were positive in their

attitude towards inclusive education. For example, the research on pre-service and in-

service teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive conducted by Leatherman & Niemeyer (2005)

suggested that teachers revealed positive attitude toward inclusion and their attitudes

were influenced by their previous experiences in inclusive settings, and their involvement

with children with disabilities in classroom activities.

The study showed an overall positive attitude towards inclusive education, with

strong implications of training needed in order to provide quality education to students

with special needs (Buford & Casey, 2012). Similar results were found in Ross-Hill

(2009), that most of teachers support the practice of inclusion in regular education

classrooms or hold a neutral consensus towards the practice of inclusion as it relates to

teaching assignment (grade level, subject area or type of inclusion practice).

Another research conducted in India by Bhatnagar & Das (2013), revealed that

teachers held positive attitudes towards the inclusion of students with SEN. This study

also showed that male teachers, younger teachers (less than 40 years of age), less

experienced (less than 10 years), had postgraduate qualifications and had a contact with a

person with a disability were more positive towards inclusive education.

An empirical study carried out in United Kingdom by Avramidis & Norwich (2002)

examined teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusion of children with SEN in the regular

school, investigating the factors that might influence teachers’ acceptance of the inclusion

principle. The study showed evidence of positive teachers’ attitudes, but no evidence of

acceptance of a total inclusion or total reject of special educational provision. These

findings coincide with those of the Kurniawati et al., (2012) study conducted in

Indonesia. Kurniawati et al. found that teachers were favorable of inclusion and their

attitudes seemed to be related to their teaching experiences and training in special

education.

A quantitative research investigated teachers’ attitudes regarding the inclusion

process in Barbados and Trinidad. The result showed that teachers’ attitudes towards

inclusion were ambivalent, which suggest that they are not necessarily opposed to the

idea of including students with special needs, but they possess concerns about the

suitability of the regular educational setting for meeting the educational needs of these

students (Blackman et al., 2012).

However, other studies have shown contradictory results. A comparative research

conducted in South Africa and Sweden by Nel et al. (2011), showed that both countries

furthermore reflected a negative attitude towards inclusive education. The results also

showed that the teachers in both countries agreed equally that special schools have a

crucial role to play in the education systems of their countries.

Attitudinal research conducted in the Chinese context, demonstrated that teachers’

attitudes are composed of three dimensions positive and negative effects of inclusion, and

benefits of segregated special schools. The research revealed that most teachers had

positive attitudes towards special schools education while supporting inclusion, and

urban teachers were more negative towards inclusive education than those from rural area

(Deng, 2008).

Research conducted by Peng (2011), which aim was to identify regular school

teachers’ attitude towards inclusive education in China, and also examine whether

teachers perceived themselves prepared to implement inclusive practices in their regular

classrooms. Results revealed that teachers had negative attitude but contractive attitudes

towards inclusive education, and they perceived they were not prepared to implement

inclusive practice in the classrooms.

As can be noticed, different studies in different countries had different findings.

Although, most of the studies revealed that teachers seemed to have favorable attitude

towards the practice of inclusive education in the regular education classrooms. This

might be an important predictor of the successful implementation of inclusive education

for children with disabilities. Additionally, research has revealed that there are various

reasons for positive and negative teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion, such as, the degree

of children’ difficulties, the nature of children’ disabilities, the teachers’ experience with

children with special educational needs, the beliefs in their own capabilities to implement

inclusive practices or the expectations towards the children, the curricula and so on

(Unianu, 2011).

2.8 Teachers’ Attitudes towards kindergarten Inclusive Education in China

Limited studies have been carried out to understand kindergarten teachers’ attitudes

towards inclusive education. Research undertaken in China about teachers’ attitudes

towards kindergarten inclusive education has provided a range of information in this area.

The study conducted by Gu (2009) employed a quantitative approach to study the

kindergarten teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion in China. The study concluded that

most kindergarten teachers held a moderately positive attitude toward inclusion of

children with special needs. Teachers ’age, years of teaching, class size and participation

in an inclusion workshop were the variables significantly associated with teachers’

attitudes towards inclusion of children with special needs in kindergarten.

Similarly important is the parents and teachers’ attitudes research carried out by Li

(2007), the results revealed that parents and teachers reported moderately positive attitude

towards inclusion and perceived benefits for children with and without disabilities. The

findings indicated that teachers who had previous experiences with people with

disabilities had higher overall positive attitude about inclusion and higher perceived

benefits of inclusion for children with and without disabilities.

Hu (2010) conducted a research to assess early childhood teachers’ training needs

to promote the inclusion of children with disabilities in regular classrooms in Beijing.

The research revealed that early childhood teachers in China report the need for more

training in the areas of behavior management, the Individualized Education Plan (IEP)

process, inclusion strategies, and communicating with parents and families.

2.9 Factors Related to Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusion

Over the past three decades, after the movement towards inclusive practice, school

systems have experienced an increase of students with disabilities included in the regular

education classroom. Therefore, increasing attention is being given to teachers’ attitudes

towards inclusion, but also more importantly, identifying and understanding the variables

that may influence their attitudes. Teachers’ attitudes might be influenced by a number of

variables which are in many ways correlated (see figure 1).

Figure1: Conceptual Framework for Teacher Attitudes (Adapted from Stauble, 2009, p.14)

According to Walker (2012) principal support, in the form of emotional,

instrumental and informational support, and professional development have a positive

impact on teachers’ attitudes toward including students with special needs. In the other

hand, Avramidis & Norwich (2002) have shown that teachers’ attitudes are strongly

influenced by child-related variables (nature and severity of the disabilities) and less by

teacher-related variables. Avramidis, Bayliss & Burden (1999) study indicated that

teachers are more willing to accept in the classroom student with mild disabilities than

they are willing to accept a student with severe disabilities in the classroom.

Similarly, Diebold & Von-Eschenbach (as cited in Cook, 2001), found that teachers

are generally more receptive toward including students with mild or high incidence

disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities) and less receptive toward including children with

severe or low incidence disabilities (e.g., autism) in their regular education classrooms.

Researchers have explored a number of specific teacher-related variables which

might influence teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion. Many of the teachers’

characteristics are variables that could affect their attitude to disabilities, such as: age,

gender, education level, teaching experience, and acquaintance with a person with a

disability, having a family member with a disability, or having other contact with a person

with disability (Gal, Schreur & Engel-Yeger, 2010).

A quantitative study carried out by Unianu (2011) was designed to identify the

main barriers in implementing inclusion in regular schools and to analyze different

aspects of the teachers’ attitude towards inclusive education. It revealed significant

differences between teachers of different ages regarding the knowledge of main concepts

of inclusion. The results also revealed that there are significant differences regarding the

implementation of inclusive activities, taking into consideration the variables of students.

Another study was carried out in India by Parasuram (2006), it investigated whether

variable background characteristics (age, gender, income level, education levels, years of

teaching experience, acquaintance with a person with a disability, having a family

member with a disability, frequency of contact and closeness to a person with disability)

affect the attitudes of teachers towards people with disabilities and towards inclusion of

students with disabilities into regular schools. The findings revealed that the only variable

that affected teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion was prior acquaintance with a person

with a disability.

The teacher’s knowledge about special education and disability was also considered

an important factor in improving teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion. Teachers who had

been trained to teach students with SEN have more positive attitudes and emotional

reactions to students with SEN and their inclusion than those who had no such training

(Avramidis, Bayliss & Burden, 1999).

Another factor that has attracted considerable attention is the experience with

individual with disabilities. Teachers who had been actively involved in teaching students

with SEN held significantly more positive attitudes towards inclusion than the teachers

with little or no such experience (Avramidis & Kalyva, 2007).

The environment-related factors is another factor that influence teachers’ attitude

towards inclusion, such as, appropriate support services, classroom settings and

restructuring of the buildings, class size, curriculum, funding and time (Avramidis &

Norwich, 2002).

In summary, researchers have demonstrated that the successful implementation of

inclusive education is dependent upon several factors, particularly teachers’ attitudes. It

was also found that teachers who have a positive attitude towards inclusion are more

likely to adapt their methods and educational environment to assist students with special

needs.

CHAPTER 3—METHODOLOGY

This study investigated kindergarten teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education

of children with disabilities in Wuhan, China. This chapter is organized into five sections:

the research design, the participants, the instrument utilized, the research procedures and

the data analysis.

3.1 Research Design

A descriptive research design was utilized for this study in order to investigate

kindergarten teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion in regular classroom. Descriptive

research attempts to describe systematically a situation, problem, phenomenon or

program, or describes attitudes towards issues (Kumar, 1999). Quantitative data was

gathered through a survey assessing teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion. As posed in

Chapter 1, the research questions for this study were the following:


children with disabilities in regular classrooms in Wuhan, China?




experience in teaching children with disabilities and training in special

education)?

• Is there influence of teachers’ attitude on their sense of responsibility to include

children with disabilities in the regular classroom?

The methodology used for the literature review was to systematically search

internet resources, abstracts and databases including Educational Resources Information

Center (ERIC), UNESCO, UNICEF and journal sources (Tandfonline, SAGE), Science

Direct, General search engines (Google Scholar, etc.) were used to find materials

published pertinent to inclusive education and teachers’ attitude towards inclusion.

Because, the main purpose of this review was to focus on established findings on

inclusive education and teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education, only articles that

included these phenomena were selected. Searches were also made of relevant websites,

online reports and dissertations from worldwide. Material was organized into the themes

indicated by chapter headings. The descriptors used include: teachers’ attitude / inclusive

education / early childhood education/ inclusive education in China / disability /

kindergarten inclusion.

3.2 Participants

The study comprised ninety teachers from seven kindergartens in Wuhan, the

capital of Hubei Province, which is located in the central area of China. Sixth-two

teachers of this sample were teaching in private kindergartens and twenty-eight were

teaching in public kindergartens. The mean age of participants was 27.63 (SD = 8.15),

ranged from 18 and 51 years of age (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Frequency Distribution of Participants’ Ages

Table 1 illustrates demographic information about the participants, including their

age, gender, education degree, major, teaching experience, experience in teaching

children with disabilities, time experience in teaching children with disabilities and

training in special education. The review of the Table 1 indicates that all participants were

female (n=90). The majority of the participants were under 30 years old (69.7%).

Approximately 60% (n=54) had undergraduate degree, 34.4% (n=31) had graduate

degree, and only 1.1% (n=1) had post-graduate degree. The majority of teachers (70%)

reposted they majored in pre-school education. In terms of teaching experience,

approximately 35.6% (n=32) had more than five years of teaching experience, and most

participants 64.5% (n=58) indicated that they had five or less than five years of teaching

experience.

Approximately 78.9% (n=71) had no experience teaching children with disabilities,

and only 16.7% (n=15) revealed they had such experience. However, most of them 16%

(n=15) had five or less than five years of experience teaching children with disabilities,

and only 1.1% (n=1) had more than five years of experience in teaching children with

disabilities. In terms of training in special education, the Table 1 shows that most of the

teachers 91.1% (n=82) had not received training in special education, and only 8.9%

(n=8) reported that they had training in special education.

Table 1

Participants Demographic Information (n= 90)

Variables Groups Frequency(n=90)

%

Age< 30 62 69.7

>= 30 27 29.8

Missing 1 1.1

Total 90 100Gender Female 90 100

Male 0

Education DegreeUndergraduate 54 60.0

Graduate 31 34.4Post-graduate 1 1.1

Missing 4 4.4Total 90 100

Major

Pre-school Education 63 70.0Education 22 24.4Marketing 1 1.1

Computer Science 1 1.1Missing 3 3.3

Total 90 100

Teaching Experience

Less than 1 year 16 17.81-5 years 42 46.75-10 years 18 20.0+10 years 14 15.6

Total 90 100Experience teaching children with disabilities

Yes 15 16.7No 71 78.9

Missing 4 4.4

Total 90 100Time experience in teaching children with disabilities

1-5 years 15 166-10 years 1 1.1

Training in special education Yes 8 8.9No 82 91.1

Total 90 100

3.3 Instrument

This study used the attitudinal scale Teacher Attitudes towards Inclusive Education

Scale (TAIES) to investigate teachers’ attitudes. According to Kumar (1999), attitudinal

scales measure the intensity of respondents’ attitudes towards the several aspects of a

situation or issue and provide techniques to combine the attitudes towards different

aspects into one overall indicator.

Some items included in the scale were derived from an extensive review of the

literature on teacher attitudes toward inclusion, a number of published instruments were

identified which were to measure teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion. The scale

demonstrated reliability as defined by alpha reliability coefficient (0.78), which indicates

an acceptable level of internal consistency (reliability) for the scale. The TAIES consisted

of two parts. The demographic questionnaire consisted of nine demographic variables:

age, gender, education degree, major, teaching experience, experience in teaching

children with disabilities, time experience in teaching children with disabilities and

training in special education.

The TAIES consisted of 24 items on a 5-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree,

2=disagree, 3=neutral, 4=agree, 5=strongly disagree). The items were divided into two

dimensions which addressed teacher attitudes toward inclusion in general (14 items) and

their sense of responsibility for implementing inclusive practice in their classroom (10).

The items on the scale took the form of a statement such as “the regular classroom

environment promotes the academic growth of students with disabilities.” The

questionnaire was originally constructed in English (see Appendix C). It was then

translated into Chinese (see Appendix D).

3.4 Research Procedures

To begin this research some kindergartens were located. A letter was submitted to

the principals for approval to conduct the study (see Appendix A). With approval, a cover

letter (see Appendix B) and the TAIES were provided for the kindergarten teachers. The

letter clearly stated that informed consent is provided through the teacher completing and

returning the survey back to the researcher. The letter also indicated that teacher

participation was voluntary, that respondent anonymity would be maintained at all times,

that all information would be kept confidential. The participants were provided with two

ways in which to contact the researcher if they had concerns or questions about the

questionnaire (by telephone number and by email).

All participants were fully advised of the nature of the study and also advised that

the survey would take approximately ten minutes of their time. The survey was delivered

by hand to each kindergarten and was self-administered individually by each participant.

Some principals asked the teachers to complete the questionnaire at the end of the

meeting. However, in most kindergarten the teachers complete the questionnaires in their

own time, and then were collected by the researcher.

3.5 Data Analysis

The research consisted of quantitative analysis using descriptive statistics. All data

were coded and quantitative analyses were conducted using the Statistical Program for

Social Sciences (SPSS 17.0), for analysis. Therefore, following statistical procedures

were used to analyze responses for the research questions:

• Descriptive statistics using means, standard deviations and percentages were

calculated to examine teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education.

• Frequencies were examined using t-test for independent sample to identify

differences between the independent variables and dependent variables of teacher.

• ANOVA analysis was selected as the data meets the design requirements which

include comparing three or more means for the independent variable (education

degree, experience time and experience in teaching children with disabilities) and

the dependent variables (teachers’ attitudes and responsibility).

• The Pearson bivariate correlation was used to examine whether exist influence of

teachers’ attitude on their responsibility to include children with disabilities in

regular classroom.

CHAPTER 4 — RESULTS

The purpose of the study was to determine teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive

education of children with disabilities in the regular classroom in Wuhan, China. Four

research questions were developed which address teachers’ attitude towards inclusive

education of children with disabilities:


children with disabilities in regular classroom in Wuhan, China?




experience in teaching children with disabilities and training in special

education)?

• Is there influence of teachers’ attitudes on their sense of responsibility to include

children disabilities in the regular classroom?

4.1 Research Question1

What are the kindergarten teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education of

children with disabilities in regular classroom? To execute the data analysis for this

question, the mean and percentage for each item of the TAIES was calculated. Table 2

shows the descriptive results of the teachers’ responses for each item and specifically

shows the percentage and means for responses for each point of the five-point Likert

scale.

Table 2

The Percentage of Responses on Survey Items

Item Strongly Disagree

Disagree Neutral Agree StronglyAgree

Mean

1. IE of SWD can be advantageous 5.6% 12.2% 46.7% 27.8% 6.7% 3.142. SWD should be educated in RC 12.2% 35.6% 30.0% 17.8% 4.4% 2.673. Integrate SWD in Special classroom

1.1% 15.6% 18.9% 37.8% 26.7% 3.73

4. Regular classroom can be modified

4.4% 20.0% 41.1% 27.8% 6.7% 3.12

5. SWD can be more effectively educated in RC

3.3% 27.8% 33.3% 26.7% 8.9% 3.10

6. Require too much of the teacher time

15.6% 32.2% 27.8% 15.6% 7.8% 2.64

7. RC promote academic growth

4.4% 26.7% 37.8% 18.9% 8.9% 2.91

8. SC promote learning faster than RC

2.2% 6.7% 22.2% 43.3% 23.3% 3.72

9. IE promotes Social independence

1.1% 7.8% 35.6% 34.4% 16.7% 3.44

10. IE promotes understanding and acceptance

1.1% 4.4% 17.8% 55.6% 18.9% 3.80

11.Student without Disabilities avoid interaction with SWD

5.6% 25.6% 37.8% 26.7% 1.1% 2.82

12. SWD develop academic skills more rapidly in a RC

4.4% 18.9% 47.8% 20.0% 7.8% 3.04

13.SC have beneficial effect on the SWD development

7.8% 22.2% 32.2% 4.42% 10.0% 2.97

14. RC teachers have sufficient training

21.1% 32.2% 33.3% 4.4% 3.3% 2.20

Note. Refer to Appendix C for specific wording of survey items.

This study was designed to determine the direction of teacher’s attitude towards

inclusion (positive, negative, or neutral). So that high scores (i.e. selected 4 and 5 on the

Likert scale) reflected positive attitudes and low scores (i.e. selected 1 and 2 on the Likert

scale) reflected negative attitudes. The prevalence of direction of attitude was determined

based on the teachers’ responses to each item. An item was placed in a positive attitude

category if greater percentage of the responses were favorable to inclusive practice (the

higher the scores, the more positive attitudes participants have). If the item with greater

percentage of responses were favorable to segregated settings, then it was placed in a

negative attitude. In addition the item was placed in a neutral category if greater

percentage of responses were neutral. Next the percentage and mean of each item were

calculated to examine the overall of positive, negative or neutral attitudes.

Positive Attitude: as previous mentioned in this section of the results, regarding

teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education of children with disabilities, the higher the

scores are the more positive attitudes teachers had towards inclusion. By analyzing the

results of each item favorable to inclusion, the data in the Table 2 shows that 74.5% of

teachers surveyed believe that inclusion promotes understanding and acceptance of

individual differences between students without disabilities and students with disabilities.

About 53.3% of the participants disagree with the statement that regular classroom

teachers have sufficient training to teach children with disabilities. 51.1% believed that

inclusion promotes social independence among students with disabilities. 47.8% of

participants disagreed with the statement that students with disabilities should not be

taught in regular classroom with nondisabled students because they require too much of

the teacher time. In addition, 35.6% of the participants agreed with the statement

“disabled students can be more effectively educated in the regular classroom as opposed

to the special education classrooms.

Negative Attitude: by analyzing the data, the researcher found that 66.6% of the

respondents indicated that they believe special schools promote disabled students

learning skills faster than the regular schools. Approximately 64.5% of the teachers had

the belief that is necessary to integrate disabled students in special classroom in order to

meet their educational need. The next higher rating was the statement that all disabled

students should be educated in regular classroom with their nondisabled peers, with

47.8% of teacher’s disagreement.

Neutral Attitude: by studying the Table 2, the results show that the some

respondents expressed neutral attitude towards inclusive education either inclusion or

segregated placement. 46.7% of the teachers were neutral about the statement “the

inclusion of students with disabilities can be advantageous for students without

disabilities. The results showed that 41.1% of the participants had neutral attitude on the

statement that regular classroom can be modified to meet the need of disabled students.

37.8% were neutral with the statement that the regular classroom environment promotes

the academic growth of students with disabilities. 47.8% of teachers were neutral with the

statement that students with disabilities develop academic skills more rapidly in a regular

classroom than in special classroom. Regarding the statement that students with

disabilities avoid interaction with students with disabilities, 37.8% of the teachers were

neutral about this item. In addition, 32.2% of the participant held neutral attitude on the

statement “isolation in a special classroom has beneficial effect on the development of the

students with disabilities.

4.2 Research Question 2

Are there significant differences between teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive

education and teachers’ demographic variables (age, education degree, teaching

experience, experience teaching children with disabilities, time experience in teaching

children with disabilities, and training in special education)? The purpose of this question

was to investigate which variables best explain teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion as

measured by the TAIES.

One way ANOVA and Sample t-test were conducted to examine differences

between demographic variables and teacher’s attitude. To execute the analysis of the data

for this research question, the mean and standard deviation for each variable were

analyzed (see Table 3).

Table 3Statistical Differences between Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusion and Demographic Variables

Teachers’ AttitudeGroups N Mean SD t p

Age > = 30 27 42.74 5.1 0.572

< 30 62 43.51 6.1

Education DegreeUndergraduate 54 43.51 6.3 0.146

Graduate 31 42.80 5.3Postgraduate 1 44.0

Teaching experience Less than 1 Year 16 41.43 5.6 0.971

1 - 5 years 42 44.21 5.1

6 - 10 years 18 42.66 8.8

+ 10 years 14 43.64 2.4

Experience teaching children with disabilities

Yes 15 44.80 6.3 0.957No 71 43.23 5.6

Time experience in teaching children with disabilities

1 6 48.66 9.5 0.439

2 6 43.66 3.9

3 2 44.0 4.2

4 1 42.0

6 1 46.0

8 1 42.0

Training in special

education

Yes 8 45.0 9.6 0.106

No 82 43.10 5.3

As can be noticed in the Table 3, results show differences between teachers’

demographic variables and teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of students with

disabilities. Six demographic variables, such as, age, education degree, teaching

experience, experience teaching children with disabilities, experience time in teaching

children with disabilities and training in special education, were analyzed to identify

whether exist significant differences in teachers’ attitudes. By analyzing the data

relatively the variable age, the findings show that teachers aged <30 had more positive

attitude towards inclusive education of children with disabilities in the regular classroom

(M=43.51, SD=6.1) than teachers aged >= 30 (M=42.74, SD=5.1).

When analyzed the mean score and the deviation standard for education degree, the

results show that teachers who had postgraduate degree had more positive attitude

towards inclusion (M=44.0) than the graduate (M=42.80, SD=5.3) and undergraduate

(M=43.51, SD=6.3). The findings show that teachers with 1 to 5 years of teaching

experience were more supportive to inclusive education (M=44.21, SD=5.1) than teacher

with more than 10 years of teaching experience (M=43.64, SD=2.4).

In terms of the variable experience teaching children with disabilities, results in the

Table 3 show that teachers with experience in teaching children with disabilities were

more positive towards inclusion (M=44.80, SD=6.3) than those lack of experience

teaching children with disabilities (M=43.23, SD=5.6).

Difference in teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion was analyzed relatively to the

variable time experience in teaching children with disabilities. The results indicate that

teachers with 1 year of experience in teaching students with disabilities were more

positive (M=48.66, SD=9.5) towards inclusion than teachers with 8 years of experience

in teaching children with disabilities (M=42.0). Additionally, teachers with training in

special education had more positive attitude towards inclusion of children with

disabilities in regular classroom (M=45.0, SD=9.6) than teachers who did not have such

training (M=43.10, SD=5.3).

The findings of this study show no statistically significant differences between

demographic variables and teachers’ attitudes towards including children with disabilities

in regular classroom. No statically significant differences were found between those less

than or those older than 30 years in their attitude towards inclusive education (t= 0.572,

p=0.510). No significant differences were found for education degree (F (2.83) = 0.146,

p=0.800). In terms of teaching experience, no significant differences were found between

teachers with less than 1 year of teaching experience or those with more than 10 years of

teaching experience (F (3.86) = 0.971, p= 0.360). No significant differences were found

between those with experience teaching children with disabilities or those without such

experience and teachers’ attitude (t= 0.957, p=0.290). There was also no significant

difference between those with one or eight years of experience in teaching children with

disabilities in their attitude towards inclusion (F (5.11) = 0.439, p= 0.760). Results also

show no significant differences between teachers with training in special education and

those lack such training in their attitude towards including children with disabilities (t=

0.106, p= 0.220).

4.3 Research Question 3

Is there influence of teachers’ attitudes on their sense of responsibility to include children with disabilities in the regular classroom? Figure 3 shows the results of the Pearson Correlation analysis conducted to examine the correlation between these two variables. The results from the correlation analysis show that there was a significant relationship between teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and their responsibility to include children with disabilities in the regular classroom.

Figure 3 Influence of teachers’ attitudes on sense of responsibility

The coefficient correlation between teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and their

sense of responsibility to include children with disabilities in regular classroom was

F=.478, p<00.1. Teachers with negative attitude towards inclusion had lower sense of

responsibility to include children with disabilities. This finding indicates that the less

positive attitudes of the participants, the less responsible they were to include children

with disabilities in the regular classroom.

Table 4

Correlation between Teachers’ Attitudes and Sense of Responsibility

Teachers’ Attitude Responsibility

Teachers’ Attitude Pearson Correlation 1 r = 0.478***

Sig. (2-tailed) P = 0.000

N 90 90

Responsibility Pearson Correlation r = 0.478*** 1

Sig. (2-tailed) P = 0.000

N 90 90

Note:* p< 0.05; ** p< 0.01; *** p< 0.001: Correlation is significant at the 0.00 level (2-tailed).

There was a significant association between teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and their sense of responsibility to include children with disabilities in their classroom. In other words, teachers who had less positive attitude towards inclusion appeared to hold less sense of responsibility to include children with disabilities in regular classroom.

CHAPTER 5 — DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study was to investigate the kindergarten teachers’ attitudes

towards inclusive education of children with disabilities in the regular classroom in

Wuhan, China, and how the attitude influence their sense of responsibility for including

those children in the regular classroom. The findings provide meaningful information

regarding the teachers’ attitude towards inclusive education. The following discussion is

organized around the findings related to TAIES and literature on teachers’ attitudes

towards inclusion. It is noteworthy that the results of this study should be interpreted

cautiously on the light of the limitations encountered.

Three research questions were investigated in the study to access teachers’ attitudes

towards inclusion. The research questions and discussion follow:

5.1 Kindergarten Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusive Education of Children with Disabilities in Regular Classroom in Wuhan, China

The results of this study indicated that kindergarten teachers in Wuhan, China,

overall, seem to have negative or contradictory attitudes towards inclusive education of

children with disabilities in regular education settings. In other words, teachers appeared

supportive towards the benefits of inclusion, but not supportive towards inclusive

practices, i.e., teachers did not consider the regular classroom the appropriate placement

for students with disabilities. This indicates that teachers believed children with

disabilities are part of the special education classroom. Our findings replicate the findings

of the study conducted by Peng (2011). As previously reported, Peng conclude that

teachers had negative attitude or contradictory attitudes towards inclusive education. The

findings are consistent with those encountered by Nel et al. (2011) that showed teachers

have negative attitude towards inclusive education and emphasize the importance of

special schools in the education systems.

Teachers in this study revealed contradictory in their attitude. Such contradictory

can be attributed to the fact that the participants were not effectively prepared to teach

children with disabilities and had limited or no experience in teaching children with

disabilities. A slight majority of teachers appear neutral towards including children with

disabilities in regular classroom.

Historically, students with disabilities in China have been educated in special

schools. Nowadays, following the trends towards inclusive education, increasingly more

students with disabilities have being educated in regular classrooms. Although it seemed

that the participants in this study continued reserved towards including children with

disabilities in their classroom and attached to the traditional system with which they are

most familiar. Another reason is that inclusion is a new concept to millions of Chinese

teachers, (Hu, Roberts, Yang & Zhao 2011).

5.2 Differences between Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusion and Demographic Variables

Teachers’ attitudes and demographic variables were examined to identify the

differences. Surprisingly, there were no statistically significant differences between

teacher’s demographic variables and teachers’ attitudes towards including students with

disabilities in regular classroom. These because several research have shown the

important of teacher training and experience with individuals with disabilities in the

formation of attitude (Avramidis, Bayliss & Burden, 2000; Carroll, Forlin & Jobling,

2003; Leatherman & Niemeyer, 2007).

This study revealed the importance of training on the formation of attitudes towards

inclusive education. Although, the difference was no statistically significant, this study

showed that teacher with training in special education hold more positive attitude towards

inclusion. This finding is consistent with those in the literature review that suggested that

teachers may not hold negative attitude, rather they may not perceive themselves

knowledgeable or skilled to teach students with SEN. Beh-Pajooh (as cited in Avramidis,

Bayliss & Burden, 2000) stated that influence of teacher training in special education in

the development of positive teachers who had been trained in inclusion are more

supportive to inclusion and have more positive emotional reactions to students with SEN

and their inclusion than teachers who had no such training. Thus, teachers need necessary

knowledge and skills in special education to identify the student specific needs and

respond to them through organizing specific teaching strategies (European Agency for

Development in Special Needs Education, 2010).

It is noteworthy to highlight that it was not possible to examine the difference of

variable gender because of the homogeneity of the sample. All the participants were

female, thus it was not possible to examine differences in the attitude component. Such

an analysis could be planned to be carried out in future research.

5.3 The Influence of Teachers’ Attitudes on their Sense of Responsibility to Include Children with Disabilities in the Regular Classroom

Results emerged from this study revealed statistically significant correlation

between teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and their sense of responsibility for

including children with disabilities in regular classroom. Teachers’ views towards

inclusion could have an influence on their sense of responsibility to include children with

disabilities in the regular classroom. It demonstrated that teacher with more negative

attitude is likely to held low sense of responsibility for including children with disabilities

in the regular classroom.

For instance, it is necessary to understand the formation of these negative teacher

attitudes in order to implement pro-active strategies that will help teachers positively

adjust to the challenges of educating children with disabilities in the regular classroom.

The greater the attitude towards inclusion, the higher the sense of responsibility for

implementing inclusive practices for those children. In other words, if teachers hold

positive attitudes towards inclusion, then they perceive higher sense of responsibility in

implementing inclusive practices. Equally if they already have higher sense of

responsibility to include children with disabilities in regular classroom, then their attitude

likely will change through acquiring knowledge and skills to support children with

disabilities in their classroom. Rouse (2008) states that by “just doing it” teachers are

capable of developing knowledge and positive attitudes towards inclusion.

Therefore, it has been suggested that attitudes are learned as results of series of

experiences, it may also be changed as the results of experience (Gagne, 1977). In other

words, teacher negative attitude may be changed gradually by training in special

education or by a period of time experience with students with disabilities.

Results showed that teachers held negative attitude towards inclusion, then they

held low sense of responsibility for including children with disabilities. Teachers in this

study did not perceive themselves prepared to assume the responsibility for implementing

inclusive schools. This by the fact that the majority of them considered the special

schools better placement for children with disabilities and attributed special education

teacher the responsibility to include those children in the regular classroom. Similar

findings were reported in Hu, Roberts, Yang & Zhao (2011). According to them, regular

education teachers perceived special education teachers as experts in working with

special needs children. Regular education teachers have the responsibilities to help

identify students, who may need supports, modify instructions to meet students’ needs

and to promote acceptance of all students in the classroom (Eggen & Kauchak, 2005). It

requires teachers to accept the responsibility for creating inclusive schools in which all

children can learn together and develop their skills.

5.3.1Limitations

This study presents some limitations. First, the data was collected from ninety

kindergarten teachers in Wuhan. Therefore the results cannot be generalized to other

population of kindergarten teachers in China. Second, the data was collected by using a

questionnaire that had been translated from English language. Likely some items in the

Chinese scale may not capture the whole essence of the original English language

version. Third, the limited studies about kindergarten teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion,

led to some restrictions, notably on the literature review and discussion of the findings.

5.3.2 Conclusions

The purpose of this study was to investigate kindergarten teachers’ attitude towards

inclusive education of children with disabilities in the regular classroom in Wuhan,

China. Therefore, this study provided some perception about kindergarten teachers’

attitude towards inclusive education of children with disabilities in regular classroom.

The findings of this study showed, in general, teachers held negative or

contradictory attitudes towards inclusive education of children with disabilities. They

were also concerned about the placement of children with disabilities in the regular

classroom. This attitude seems to derive from lack of training in special education and

lack of experience with children with disabilities.

The findings revealed no statistically significant differences between demographic

variables and teachers’ attitude towards including children with disabilities in the regular

classroom. Teachers’ attitudes were compared with their ages, education degree, teaching

experience, experience teaching children with disabilities, time experience in teaching

children with disabilities and training in special education. However, the participants in

this study had different experiences toward inclusive education, their attitude towards

including children with disabilities in the regular classroom did not differ. In overall, the

participants held negative attitudes towards including children with disabilities in their

classroom. It is noteworthy that because we did no analyze the other variables that may

influence teachers’ attitude, such as child-related variables and environment-related

variables, our analysis does not allow us to mention which other factors may influence

their teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education of children with disabilities in the

regular classroom.

Additionally, another conclusion is concerned about the influence of teachers’

attitudes on their sense of responsibility for including children with disabilities in regular

classroom. This is related to the teachers’ confidence in their knowledge and skills in

special education to meet the need of all students. Pre-service teacher education has a

responsibility to ensure that teachers are adequately prepared for educating all students in

the regular education classroom (Carroll, Forlin & Jobling, 2003).

5.3.3 Recommendations

From this study we can draw some recommendations. This study revealed no

statistically significant differences between teacher-related variables and teachers’

attitudes towards inclusive education. Future research on teachers’ attitudes towards

inclusive education, considering other variables, such as child-related variables and

environment-related variables, it is crucial and helpful to understand teachers’ attitudes

towards inclusion in kindergarten.

This study should also be replicated using a larger sample size of participants,

through quantitative and qualitative methods (interview, observation and open-ended

questionnaire) in order to acquire more accurate results for a better understanding of

teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education in the kindergarten.

Teacher education programs should provide subjects that concentrate on the

diversity of the individual characteristics; should provide specific teaching strategies;

should provide contact and interaction between student-teacher and students with

disabilities, for a better understanding about their responsibilities to include all children

in the classroom regardless their needs or characteristics.

Regarding teacher education for inclusion, the European Agency for Development

in Special Needs Education (2010) states “the process of inclusion is the assumption that

the general classroom teacher has certain knowledge and understanding about the needs

of different learners, teaching techniques and curriculum strategies” (p.7). The quality of

education and the successful implementation of inclusive education depend on the quality

of the teachers and their beliefs to meet the needs of all students. Thus, the national

education policy needs to support teacher education for inclusion to further improve

inclusive practice.

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• UNESCO (2000). The Dakar Framework for Action: Education For All: Meeting our Collective Commitments. Retrieved 2014, February from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/

• UNESCO (2005). Guidelines for Inclusion: Ensuring Access to Education for All. Paris. Retrieved 2014, February from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/

• UNESCO (2007a). From Exclusion to Equality: Realizing the rights of persons with disabilities: Handbook for Parliamentarians on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol, United Nations, Geneva. Retrieved 2014, February from: http://www.un.org/disabilities/

• UNESCO (2007b). Regional Preparatory Workshop on Inclusive Education: East Asia, China. Retrieved 2014, February from: http://unesco.org.pk/

• UNESCO (2009). Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education. UNESCO France, 2009. Retrieved 2014, February from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/

• UNESCO (2011). Revision of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). General Conference, 36th Session, Paris, 2011. Retrieved 2014, April from: http://www.uis.unesco.org/

• UNESCO (2013). Schooling for Millions of Children Jeopardized by Reductions in Aid. Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 2014, April from: http://www.uis.unesco.org/

• Unianu, E., M. (2011).Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusive Education. Procedia:

Social and Behavioral Sciences 33 (2012) 900 – 904. Retrieved 2014, March from: http//:www.sciencedirect.com/

• UNICEF, (n.d). Early Childhood Development. Retrieved 2014, February from: http://www.unicef.cn/

• UNICEF (2013). The State of the world’s children 2013: Children with Disabilities. Retrieved 2014, February from: http://www.unicef.org/

• United Nations (2006). United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006). Retrieved 2014, February from: http://www.un.org/

• United Nations (n.d).The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved 2014, February from: http://www.un.org/

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• World Health Organization (2012). Early Childhood Development and Disability: A discussion paper. Retrieved 2014, February from: www.who.int/disabilities/

• Walker, T., J. (2012). Attitudes and Inclusion: An Examination of Teachers’ Attitudes toward Including Students with Disabilities. Retrieved 2014, March from:http://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1400 HYPERLINK "http://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1400&context=luc_diss"& HYPERLINK "http://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1400&context=luc_diss"context=luc_diss

• Yu, L., Su, X., & Liu, C., (2011). Issues of Teacher Education and Inclusion in China. Retrieved 2014, February from: http://www.sholar.google.com

• Zhang, d., Wang, M., Xu, Y, et al. (2013). Special Education in China: Historical and Legislative Foundations, Curriculum and Services and Future Directions. In, Xiaoming Li (Ed). Education in China: Cultural Influences Global Perspectives and Social Challenges.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

SAMPLE LETTER OF AUTHORIZATION

Dear Principal,I am a Master student in Special Education at the Central China Normal University.

As part of the requirements for my degree, I am conducting a dissertation research focusing on the kindergarten teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education of children with disabilities in the regular classrooms. Under the supervision of my supervisor, Professor Jianghua Lei, I am collecting data through the enclosed survey kindergarten teachers. The purpose of the research is to analyze teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education of children with disabilities in the regular classrooms. My proposed dissertation study will use a survey instrument to investigate the kindergarten teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education of children with disabilities in the regular classroom.

I am seeking the participation of as many kindergarten teachers as possible. The

information obtained from the study will hopefully lead to: a) better understanding of the teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion; b) the influence of these attitudes in the success of including students with disabilities in the regular kindergarten classrooms; and c) this information may be used to improve pre-service and in-service kindergarten teacher education programs.

If you agree to have the teachers in your kindergarten participate in the study, your immediate response is needed so that I may include the number of kindergarten that will be participating in the study.

All questions or concerns about the survey or about participating in the study may be sent to me using the email listed below. Or you may contact me by phone at 15926444250.

Sincerely, Juselene O. Centeio Master Student Department of Special Education Central China Normal University [email protected]

APPENDIX B

TERM OF INFORMED CONSENT

Dear Teacher, I am a Master student in Special Education at the Central China Normal University.

As part of the requirements for my degree, I am conducting dissertation research focusing on the kindergarten teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education of children with disabilities in the regular classrooms. Under the supervision of my supervisor, Professor Jianghua Lei, I am collecting data through the survey kindergarten teachers. The purpose of the research is to analyze kindergarten teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education of children with disabilities in the regular classrooms.

Your principal has given me permission to collect data and I am requesting that you participate in this study. The survey contains two sections: section #1 contains 9 items and section #2 contains 24 items. The survey will take approximately 5-10 minutes of your time. Your return of the survey will constitute your consent to participate in the study.

Your participation is completely voluntary. You may withdraw from the research study without penalty. Your individual responses will be kept confidential and participants will remain anonymous. Your participation in this research study will make a significant contribution to the understanding of kindergarten teachers’ attitudes towards including children with disabilities in the regular classrooms.

All questions or concerns about the survey or about participating in the study may be sent to me using the emails listed below. Or you may contact me by phone at 15926444250.

Sincerely, Juselene O. Centeio Master Student Department of Special Education Central China Normal University [email protected]

APPENDIX C

TEACHER ATTITUDES TOWARDS INCLUSIVE EDUCATION SURVEY

The purpose of this questionnaire is to obtain information relating to your attitudes

towards inclusive education of children with disabilities in regular kindergarten

classrooms. It also contains questions pertaining to your beliefs about professional

responsibilities. All information in this questionnaire is provided anonymously and will

be treated then analyzed under the framework of this research only. There is neither right

nor wrong answers to these items, so please respond openly. Please tick "√" in case you

think best suits your options below. Thank you for your support and cooperation!

Inclusion: For the purposes of this research, inclusion is defined as the integration of

students with disabilities into regular classrooms regardless their needs, abilities or

interest.

Central China Normal University, Department of Education

PART I - DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION• Age _______• Gender: Male ( ) Female ( )• Educational Background:____________• Kindergarten: Public ( ) Private ( )• Major:________• Teaching Experience: Less than 1 year ( ) 1 - 5 years ( )

6 - 10 years ( ) More than 10 years ( )• Do you have prior experience in teaching children with disabilities:

YES ( ) NO ( ). If you have had experience in working with students with disabilities, please indicate your years of experience_______.

• Have you received any training on special educational needs: YES ( ) NO ( )

PART II - TEACHER ATTITUDES TOWARDS INCLUSIVE EDUCATION SCALE (TAIES)

Instructions: Use the following key to determine your answer. Please tick "√" only ONE against the statement that best describes your opinion. Once again, there is neither right nor wrong answers.

No. Item

Strongly

Disagree

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

Agree

1

The inclusion of students with disabilities can be advantageous for students without disabilities.

2

All disabled student should be educated in regular classrooms with nondisabled peers.

3

It is necessary to integrate disabled students in special classrooms in order to meet their educational needs.

4

Most or all regular classrooms can be modified to meet the needs of the disabled students.

5

Disabled students can be more effectively educated in regular classrooms as opposed to special education classrooms.

6

Students with disabilities should not be taught in regular classes with nondisabled students because they require too much of the teacher’s time.

7

The regular classroom environment will promote the academic growth of the students with disabilities.

8

Special schools will promote disabled students learning skills faster than the regular schools.

9

Inclusion promotes social independence among students with disabilities.

10 Inclusion promotes understanding and acceptance of individual

differences between students without disabilities and students with disabilities.

11

Students without disabilities will likely avoid interacting with students with disabilities in the classrooms.

12

The student with disabilities will probably develop academic skills more rapidly in a regular education classroom than in a special education classroom.

13

Isolation in a special classroom has beneficial effect on development of the students with disabilities.

14

Regular classroom teachers have sufficient training to teach children with disabilities.

15

Teaching students with disabilities is better done by special teacher rather than regular teachers.

16

My educational background has prepared me effectively teach students with disabilities.

17

The responsibility for educating students with disabilities in regular classrooms should be shared between regular and special teachers.

18

Regular classroom teachers have responsibility to facilitate the interaction between students with disabilities and students without disabilities.

19

Regular classroom teachers have the responsibility to adapt the curriculum for students with disabilities.

20 Regular classroom teachers have the primary responsibility to teach

students with disabilities in their classrooms.

21

Regular classroom teachers have the responsibility to make inclusion successful.

22

Regular classroom teachers should not be responsible for teaching children with disabilities.

23

The regular classroom teachers have the responsibility to teach all students.

24

The regular classroom teachers have the responsibility to develop teaching resources to meet the needs of the disabled student.

Once again, thank you for your cooperation. I wish you a happy life!

APPENDIX D

教师对融合教育的态度调查本问卷的目的是为了获得您对特殊儿童在普通幼儿园就读情况的基本看法。它

还包含了您对于专业角色和责任的信仰问题。问卷中的所有信息都是匿名的，其结果仅在这项研究的框架下进行分析。您的答案没有正确与错误之分，请您如实回答。请在您认为最符合您情况的选项下面打“√”。衷心感谢您的大力支持！

融合：根据本研究的目的，融合指的是将特殊学生纳入普通班级，无论他们的需要、能力或者兴趣如何。

华中师范大学教育学院特殊教育系

第一部分：基本信息1.年龄：2.性别：男（）女（）3.学历：4.幼儿园性质：公立（）私立（）5.专业：6.从教年限：1 年以下（） 1-5 年（） 6-10 年（）多于 10 年（）7.您以前是否有教授特殊儿童的经验：是（）否（）；如果是有教授特殊儿童的

经验，您已经有年教授特殊儿童的经验了。8.您是否接受过关于特殊教育的培训：是（）否（）

第二部分：教师对于融合教育态度的量表说明：请您完成下面的量表，并在符合自己观点的选项下面打“√”。您需要根据下面的维度进行选择。再次声明，这些答案没有对错之分，请您放心填写。

序号

项目完全

比较不

保持中

比较同

完全

不同意

同意

立意同意

1 特殊儿童的融合教育对普通儿童有促进作用。

2

所有的特殊儿童都应该和普通儿童一样在普通班接受教育。

3

为了满足特殊儿童的教育需求，将他们安置在特殊班中非常有必要。

4

大多数或者所有的普通班都可以进行调整，以满足特殊儿童的教育需求。

5

相较于在特殊班，特殊儿童在普通班能更有效的接受教育。

6

特殊儿她不应该和普通儿童一样在普通班接受教育，因为他们会占用教师太多的时间。

7 普通班级的环境有利于提高特殊儿童的学业。

8

相较于普通学校，特殊学校能更快地提高特殊儿童的学习技能。

9 融合促进特殊儿童的社会独立性。10 融合教育促进学生相互理解并尊重个体间的差异。11 普通儿童可能会避免在教室里与特殊儿童进行交流。

12

相较于在特殊班中，特殊儿童可能在普通班里能更迅速的提高自己的学业技能。

13 特殊儿童隔离在特殊班里对他们的发展有积极影响。14 普通教师有足够的经验来教授特殊儿童。

15

相较于普通教师，特殊教师能够更好地完成教授特殊儿童的任务。

16 我的教育背景使我做好了教授特殊儿童的准备。

17

在普通班教授特殊儿童的责任应该由普通教师和特殊教师共同承担。

18

普通教师有责任帮助特殊儿童和普通儿童进行互动和交流。

19 普通教师有责任去适应特殊儿童的课程。20 普通教师在教授特殊儿童方面负有主要责任。21 普通教师为成功的实现融合担负着责任。22 普通教师不应该为教授特殊儿童负有责任。23 普通教师有责任去教授所有的学生。

24

普通教师有责任拓展教学资源以满足特殊儿童的需求。

再次感谢您的合作，祝您工作生活愉快！

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First of all I thank God for granting me strength and persistent to overcome the

challenges and make my educational pursuit come true.

I would like to gratefully and sincerely thank Dr. Lei Jianghua, Professor at the

College of Education, Central China Normal University, for his guidance, understanding

and patience during this process.

I thank my family for the support, encouragement, love and their faith in me. I

would like to thank my sister, Prof. Denise Centeio, she has always made herself

available to extend her research expertise and clarify my doubts despite her busy

schedules and the distance between us. I thank my sister Maria Centeio, for her emotional

support and for being patient and comprehensive with me while I had to sacrifice our

moments pursuing my educational goals.

The dissertation would have been impossible to come to a successful completion,

without the participants of this study. My sincere gratitude goes to the teachers for the

support and cooperation.

I would like to acknowledge the support and patience of my friend Zeeshan Bashir.

He offered his times whenever I needed him. For this, I say thank you. My appreciation

goes to my friend Antonio Andrade for generously sharing his statistical expertise. I also

extend my thanks to all my friends who encouraged me every step of the way.

I further thank my good Nigerian friend, Kayode Emmanuel Ogunyinka, and my

Chinese friends, Gong Huina, Wenjuan and Peng Wenyuan for helping me with language

issues. To all of you I give my sincerest gratitude.

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