Factors contributing to teacher attitudes towards inclusive education
List of Authors
  • Fathmath Nishan , Rohani Matzin

Keyword
  • inclusive education, teacher attitudes, Maldives

Abstract
  • Teacher attitudes has an important role in inclusive education. Teaching students with special needs can be quite challenging at times and a positive attitude can become a means to facilitate it. The implementation of inclusive education in the Maldives formally began in 2013 with the inclusive education policy by the Ministry of Education (MoE). As the implementation of inclusive education in the Maldives still in the early years of the implementation stage, investigating teacher attitudes towards inclusive education can yield vital results and contribute in managing resources for successful implementation. Being the first large scale study on inclusion in the Maldives, this study of a quantitative approach investigated whether the factors (gender, age, teacher qualifications and experience of teaching students with special needs) contributed to teacher attitudes. The respondents of the survey (N= 170) were 125 regular primary teachers, 34 SEN teachers and 11 deputy principals from 11 government inclusive schools from 6 different locations in the Republic of Maldives. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 23. The results of this study showed demographic factors such as gender, age and the qualifications of the participants did not contribute to teacher attitudes. However, experience of teaching students with special needs showed a significant difference with teacher attitudes, with participants without experience showing more positive attitudes towards inclusive education in the Maldives.

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