Parents’ attitudes towards inclusive education and their perceptions of inclusive teaching practices and resources

TLDR

Inclusive education places students with special needs alongside peers without, and literature shows that parents’ attitudes and perceptions of inclusive practices and resources are key to successful inclusion. This study investigates parents’ attitudes toward inclusive education, their perceptions of inclusive teaching practices, and their views on resources. The authors analyzed data from 2,000 German parents collected via digitally recorded semi‑structured telephone interviews in the nationwide JAKO‑O survey. Parents viewed inclusion positively for physical or learning disabilities but remained neutral for behavioral or mental disorders; they reported more inclusive practices in inclusive classes, found no resource differences, and regression indicated that attitudes are predicted by disability type.

Abstract

Inclusive education often refers to a school model wherein students with special needs (SEN) spend most of their school time with students without special needs. According to literature, for the implementation of inclusion, the attitudes towards inclusive education as well as the perception of inclusive teaching practices and resources are important factors. Within this paper, these three aspects are examined from the parents' view. Data from a representative nationwide German survey (JAKO-O) in which 2000 parents participated was investigated. The data was collected using digitally recorded semi-structured telephone interviews. Descriptive results showed that parents' attitudes towards the inclusion of a student with a physical disability or learning disability were rather positive, while the attitudes towards students with behavioural disorders or mental disabilities were rather neutral. According to the teaching practices, parents, whose children attend an inclusive class (with at least one student with SEN in the class) perceive more inclusive practices (e.g. teachers recognise the students' strengths and support them) compared to parents whose children attend a regular class (where not a single student with SEN is included). However, no differences concerning resources are perceived by parents with children attending either inclusive or regular classes. Further, results of regression analysis indicate that the predictors for parents' attitudes towards inclusive education depend on the specific type of disability.