Date of Award
8-1996
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Department
Teacher Development
College
School of Education
First Advisor
Nancy Bacharach
Second Advisor
Russell Schmidt
Third Advisor
Sandy Reese
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
inclusive education, students, special education, teacher education, program perceptions
Abstract
PROBLEM:
The implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the regular education initiative (REI) is becoming reality in a growing number of school districts across the United States. Educators, therefore, must be properly prepared to meet the needs of all students in the regular classroom, regardless of disability or exception. The perceptions and attitudes of teachers toward inclusion and students with disabilities affects the effectiveness of inclusive education programs. It is therefore necessary for preservice teacher education students to have positive perceptions and attitudes toward inclusion and students with disabilities. Teacher preparation programs must address this issue. This study examines the perceptions and attitudes of students within the Inclusive Teacher Education Program (ITEP) at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
PROCEDURE:
Students enrolled in Cohort 1 of the ITEP program were surveyed and interviewed as the entered the program in the fall of 1994 and exited the program in the spring of 1996 to determine their attitudes and perceptions toward inclusion and students with disabilities, as well as toward the ITEP program in general. The following related questions. became the focus of this research project:
1. Do the ITEP students have increased positive attitudes and perceptions toward inclusion as a result of being in the ITEP program?
2. Do the ITEP students have an understanding of the roles and competencies required. of inclusive teachers as a result of being in the ITEP program?
3. Do the ITEP students feel prepared to teach children with disabilities in a regular classroom setting?
4. What components of the ITEP program were most helpful and the least helpful to the ITEP students?
FINDINGS:
Based on the survey and interview results, the ITEP students' attitudes and perceptions toward inclusion and students with disabilities were more in agreement with the concept of inclusion as they exited the two-year ITEP program. The students also developed .an understanding of the roles and competencies required of inclusive teachers during this time. Most of the students felt prepared to teach in an inclusive classroom upon exiting the ITEP program in the spring of 1996. The most ·helpful component~ of the ITEP program were the number and variety of field experiences, the team-teaching structure, and the cohort structure.
CONCLUSIONS:
Implications from this study for teacher preparation programs were to address the issue of developing positive perceptions and attitudes in the preservice teacher education students toward inclusion and students with disabilities, and that they teach the skills and competencies needed to be an effective inclusive teacher. The Special Education and Teacher Development departments should team-teach whenever possible to give students an education that prepares them for an inclusive classroom. The use of a cohort structure and collaboration between departments is also recommended for -effective inclusive teacher education programs.
Recommended Citation
Millar, Lynn Paige Pehrson, "Perception and Attitudes of Inclusive Teacher Education Program Students" (1996). Culminating Projects in Teacher Development. 83.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/ed_etds/83
