Pakistani teachers' attitudes towards inclusion of students with special educational needs

ABSTRACT

To explore classroom teachers' attitudes towards inclusion of students with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms and collaboration between the classroom and special education teachers in Pakistan. Fifty mainstream class room teacher [48 women two men] and fifty special education teachers [47 women and three men] from four schools of Lahore participated in the study. Their views were ascertained through three specially designed questionnaire exploring their attitude and knowledge towards inclusive education besides collaboration between mainstream and special education teachers. In general, teachers have positive attitudes towards inclusive education. They agree that it enhances social interaction thus minimizes negative attitude towards students with special needs. The findings also show that collaboration between the mainstream and the special education teachers is important and that there should be a clear guideline on the implementation of inclusive education. More efforts are needed for teaching students with special education needs in Pakistan. The findings of the study have significant implications to the school administrators, teachers, and other stakeholders who are directly and indirectly involved in implementing inclusive education