Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF EDUCATION In the Department of Educational Psychology of the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2006. / The aim of this study was to investigate educators' attitudes concerning the inclusion of hearing impaired learners in mainstream classrooms As an introduction to the study the attitudes of educators towards inclusion were reviewed by means of a study of available and relevant literature. Educators are the people who make learning possible and their own attitudes towards what is happening in the classroom are of crucial importance. Research done in South Africa on educators' attitudes towards inclusive education indicated that educators in mainstream classrooms generally express negative attitudes to mainstreaming policies. In the new education dispensation educators in mainstream classrooms have to accommodate learners with impairments, such as the hearing impaired child. Inclusion makes additional demands on educators because of the special educational needs of learners with impairments. The attitude of educators towards inclusion and their efficacy in meeting the special needs of learners with impairments play a determining role in the successful implementation of an inclusive education policy. For the purpose of the empirical investigation a self-structured questionnaire was utilised. An analysis was done of 110 questionnaires completed by primary school educators from the Port Shepstone district on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. The data was processed and interpreted by means of descriptive statistics. Essentially the following were the main findings from the empirical study: S Educators' attitudes towards inclusion are influenced by the availability of sufficient support and resources for learners with special educational needs. S Educators' lack of knowledge and experience of learners with impairments have a negative influence on their attitude towards inclusive education. V Many mainstream educators lack confidence in their own abilities to teach learners with diverse educational needs in the same classroom. The study concludes with a summary and findings from the literature study and the descriptive statistics. Based on these findings the following recommendations were made: ■S The development of curricula, institutions and methods of assessment must include a variety of strategies to accommodate learners with special educational needs, such as the hearing impaired. ^ The basic training of educators must include compulsory courses such as orthopedagogics that will enable them to cope with the demands for inclusion of learners with special educational needs.

This diploma thesis represents inclusive education of a pupil with ASD in a common type of primary school. It deals with the definition of the autism spectrum disorder concept and relates it with the difficulty of educating pupils who have this diagnosis. The thesis describes the adjustment of educational conditions and possible differences in approach of pedagogical staff to these pupils. Attention is further focused on inclusion and its specifics. The practical part of the diploma thesis gathers pedagogical staff opinions on the education of a pupil with ASD and also the strategies which are applied in his education by these members of staff. Qualitative reserach is realized through pedagogical documentation research and through individual interviews with participants of the educational process, especially with teachers and teaching assistants. The aim of the work is to determine the opinion spectrum of pedagogical staff in a common school type towards educating a pupil with ASD. The focus of the work presents interviews and analysis with teachers. Findings based on open coding showed that the education of a pupil with ASD in a common type of primary school is a challenging process for the pedagogical staff, who require better preparation, support and mutual cooperation among the participants....

The diploma thesis is focused on highly gifted pupils. The objective of the thesis, which is based on the case studies, is to present the specifics of the inclusive measures used to support gifted pupils in elementary schools. Information from the interviews with pupils, their families and their teachers make an important part. The result of the thesis is to show the possibilities of the work with gifted pupils and the ways to help them. The thesis also should serve as a reflection of how the current state of the gifted pupils education works.

Thesis (M.ED. (Educational Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2012 / The purpose of this study was to compare the perceptions of three groups of parents; parents with special needs children in regular schools (n=16), parents with special needs children in special schools (n=16) and parents with special needs children not enrolled in either regular or special schools (n =18) towards inclusion in Capricorn District. Their perceptions were sought with regards to inclusion in regular schools, general education teacher’s attitude and sociocultural constraints on inclusion. Causal comparative and quantitative design inclusive of administration of structured questionnaire was adopted for this study. From the basic descriptive and inferential statistics [ANOVA and Tukey (HSD) test], there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in perceptions among the three groups on 59% and 46% of the statements addressing inclusion in regular schools and sociocultural considerations respectively. No significant difference was observed (p > 0.05) on 76% of the statements on teachers’ attitude. Despite certain concerns, the perceptions of parents with SN children in RS (Group 1) were largely in favour of inclusion as opposed to parents with SN children in SS (Group 2) and parents with SN children not enrolled in either RS or SS (Group 3). There was a general consensus by all 3 groups of parents on the negative effects of general education teachers’ attitudes on inclusion. The results further suggested that the sociocultural paradigm as envisaged by parents from Group 3 influenced not only their expectations but also those of others (children without SN, teachers and the community at large) about children with SN. Against this backdrop, a more detailed investigation on the influence of culture on parents’ perception of inclusion is recommended.

Inclusion of children with special education needs into public classrooms in United Arab Emirates applied in 2006. The application of inclusion programs started in high schools, and followed by elementary schools and preschools. Teachers' attitudes toward inclusion evaluated among high school and elementary teachers but not among preschool teachers. The effect of the cultural background of teaching staff on inclusion education not evaluated in a UAE preschool. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effect of educational specialty and culture on teachers' attitudes toward an inclusion education system in United Arab Emirates. The theory of planned behavior of Ajzan (1991) used in this study to explain teachers' attitudes. This quantitative study evaluated teachers' attitudes toward inclusion education through a distributed questionnaire, including a demographics form and a STATIC scale for evaluating teachers' attitudes. A two-factor ANOVA used to test the effects of teachers' specialty and cultural background on STATIC scores. Findings showed a main effect of preschool teachers' cultural identity on their attitudes toward inclusion education. Teachers with Asian identity showed better attitudes toward inclusion education than Gulf identity or African identity teachers. No differences found between preschool teachers' specialty (general and special education teachers) on their attitudes toward inclusion education. This study will contribute to social change by providing valuable knowledge about UAE preschool teachers' attitudes toward the application of inclusion education to improve the inclusion classrooms settings and environment.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka och förstå hur ett antal lärare resonerar kring sina möten med elever i behov av särskilt stöd. Fokus på studien ligger på undervisning i helklass och inte i mindre undervisningsgrupper. Mina frågeställningar utgår ifrån hur lärare beskriver pedagogiska situationer när de blir som bäst och när de känner att de lyckas i sina möten med elever i behov av särskilt stöd. Vad lärare upplever som utmaningar i möten inom klassrumsmiljön och vad inkludering av elever i behov av särskilt stöd betyder för lärare. Metoden för studien är en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med sex genomförda semistrukturerade intervjuer på två olika låg-och mellanstadieskolor. Resultatet presenteras i form av rubriker som skapats i analysen av intervjuer genom kodord och kategorier: Lärares syn på inkludering, Pedagogiska metoder och Samverkan och nätverk. Resultatet lyfter fram att lärarna i studien beskriver vikten av att kunna stödja enskilda elever så att de blir en del av gruppen. Lärarna anser att det är avgörande att lära känna eleven och skapa en relation. Resurspersoner är även en viktig förutsättning för elevers inkludering. Ett hinder kan vara tidsbrist för att klara av att ge både enskilda och övriga elever tillräckligt med stöd. Självreflektion är en gynnande pedagogisk metod och även samarbete med framför allt föräldrar och övriga professioner. Att skapa struktur och tydlighet genom förhållningssätt, anpassat material och miljö är mycket betydelsefullt för barn i behov av särskilt stöd. Min studie har visat att det behövs en medvetenhet om vad som påverkar inkludering. Att möta elever med ett utmanande beteende är någonting som ger upphov till olika uppfattningar och förhållningssätt hos lärare. Går det som lärare att skapa ett förtroende hos föräldrar ökas inkluderingsmöjligheterna stort.

Esta Tese tem como objeto de estudo a compreensão das mútuas influências exercidas entre escola e família no processo de inclusão escolar. Seu objetivo foi o de identificar como a inclusão escolar da criança com deficiência visual influencia sua relação familiar e como esta reflete no processo de inclusão destas crianças. O relacionamento familiar e a inclusão escolar, temas de grande relevância para a compreensão do desenvolvimento e interação dos indivíduos com deficiência, tem sido objeto de investigações, contudo acerca das influências entre eles nada foi encontrado no rastreamento realizado nas fontes pertinentes ao tema. Esta investigação é composta por um estudo em profundidade de quatro famílias nas quais havia crianças com cegueira ou com baixa visão. Pautou-se pela modalidade de abordagem qualitativa, descritiva e exploratória coletando dados das famílias, de professores e da coordenadora de instituição especializada. Foram realizadas entrevistas semi estruturadas com as crianças com deficiência visual, com suas mães e com a coordenadora da instituição especializada e levantados dados por meio de questionário dos professores da escola regular que atuavam com esses alunos. A análise desse material registrado por escrito evidenciou o papel fundamental da interação entre famíliaescola para o processo de inclusão escolar. Ficou assinalado que as famílias ao estabelecerem atitudes cooperativas junto à escola favoreciam a inclusão, da mesma forma que, na escola, atitudes de abertura e disponibilidade para atender às necessidades específicas dos alunos com deficiência, configuraram-se como fundamentais para a interação e desenvolvimento dos mesmos. A análise evidenciou que a inserção do aluno com deficiência visual na escola afetava a dinâmica familiar, alterando-a e trazendo para as famílias novas perspectivas acerca do desenvolvimento da criança e das expectativas e confiança nela. Constatou, também, que atitudes de preconceito, barreiras atitudinais e déficit na formação de professores afetavam de forma negativa o processo de inclusão. É a preocupação com as condições educacionais para o desenvolvimento de crianças com deficiência visual que deu sentido ao mergulho junto às famílias das crianças deste estudo com o objetivo de compreender e identificar as mútuas influências exercidas entre escola e família nesse processo de inclusão escolar e social. A reflexão sobre os dados desta pesquisa confirmam que a relação entre escola e família influencia diretamente a inclusão do aluno com deficiência no ambiente escolar. A relevância das relações escola família para o processo de inclusão sugere que se de continuidade aos estudos sobre este tema para aprofundar a compreensão a esse respeito. / The framework study of this thesis is the understanding of the mutual influence role exerted between family - school , during the scholar inclusion process.The thesis objective is to identify how the process of scholar inclusion of visual deficient child influences his familiar relationship, and reversely, how the family influences the child in the process of scholar inclusion. The familiar relationship and the scholar inclusion process is a highly relevant theme to understand the deficient child development and interaction. Besides being subject of investigations , nothing has been found by consulting pertinent sources related to the mutual influence role over the mentioned theme. The carried out investigation is a broad study over children with blindness or subnormal vision involving four families. The investigation was taken based upon qualitative,descriptive and exploratory approachs by gathering data from the family, professors and specialized institution coordinators. Semi structural interviews were conducted with deficient children, their respective mothers, and specialized institution coordinators. The regular school teachers of these children responded to a questionnaire for data gathering. The written recorded data analysis has made evident the fundamental role of the family - school interaction regarding to the scholar inclusion process. The family cooperative attitude regarding to the school has remarkably favoured this process. At the school side, the opening and availability attitudes, in attendig the visual deficient student, are fundamental elements for the interaction and development of them. The gathered data analysis has brought into light that the familiar dynamics was affected by the visual deficient insertion at school.The familiar dynamics was altered bringing new perspective to the family regarding to the child development, hopes and trust. It was also found that discriminating attitudes, behaving manner restriction and professors inadequate formation, negatively affected the inclusion process. The main concern of this thesis is the educational condition regarding the visual deficient child. To the referred concern was givem a motive for a study involving the family of the visual deficient child. The objective aimed at this study was the understanding and identification of mutual influences as exerted between the school and family in the social and scholar inclusion process. The findings drawn from the searching data lead to a conclusion that the relationship between school and the family, directly influences the student with visual deficiency inclusion in the scholar environment. The relevant relationship between family and school in the inclusion porcess put forward for consideration a study continuity to deeply understand this theme.

Esta Tese tem como objeto de estudo a compreensão das mútuas influências exercidas entre escola e família no processo de inclusão escolar. Seu objetivo foi o de identificar como a inclusão escolar da criança com deficiência visual influencia sua relação familiar e como esta reflete no processo de inclusão destas crianças. O relacionamento familiar e a inclusão escolar, temas de grande relevância para a compreensão do desenvolvimento e interação dos indivíduos com deficiência, tem sido objeto de investigações, contudo acerca das influências entre eles nada foi encontrado no rastreamento realizado nas fontes pertinentes ao tema. Esta investigação é composta por um estudo em profundidade de quatro famílias nas quais havia crianças com cegueira ou com baixa visão. Pautou-se pela modalidade de abordagem qualitativa, descritiva e exploratória coletando dados das famílias, de professores e da coordenadora de instituição especializada. Foram realizadas entrevistas semi estruturadas com as crianças com deficiência visual, com suas mães e com a coordenadora da instituição especializada e levantados dados por meio de questionário dos professores da escola regular que atuavam com esses alunos. A análise desse material registrado por escrito evidenciou o papel fundamental da interação entre famíliaescola para o processo de inclusão escolar. Ficou assinalado que as famílias ao estabelecerem atitudes cooperativas junto à escola favoreciam a inclusão, da mesma forma que, na escola, atitudes de abertura e disponibilidade para atender às necessidades específicas dos alunos com deficiência, configuraram-se como fundamentais para a interação e desenvolvimento dos mesmos. A análise evidenciou que a inserção do aluno com deficiência visual na escola afetava a dinâmica familiar, alterando-a e trazendo para as famílias novas perspectivas acerca do desenvolvimento da criança e das expectativas e confiança nela. Constatou, também, que atitudes de preconceito, barreiras atitudinais e déficit na formação de professores afetavam de forma negativa o processo de inclusão. É a preocupação com as condições educacionais para o desenvolvimento de crianças com deficiência visual que deu sentido ao mergulho junto às famílias das crianças deste estudo com o objetivo de compreender e identificar as mútuas influências exercidas entre escola e família nesse processo de inclusão escolar e social. A reflexão sobre os dados desta pesquisa confirmam que a relação entre escola e família influencia diretamente a inclusão do aluno com deficiência no ambiente escolar. A relevância das relações escola família para o processo de inclusão sugere que se de continuidade aos estudos sobre este tema para aprofundar a compreensão a esse respeito. / The framework study of this thesis is the understanding of the mutual influence role exerted between family - school , during the scholar inclusion process.The thesis objective is to identify how the process of scholar inclusion of visual deficient child influences his familiar relationship, and reversely, how the family influences the child in the process of scholar inclusion. The familiar relationship and the scholar inclusion process is a highly relevant theme to understand the deficient child development and interaction. Besides being subject of investigations , nothing has been found by consulting pertinent sources related to the mutual influence role over the mentioned theme. The carried out investigation is a broad study over children with blindness or subnormal vision involving four families. The investigation was taken based upon qualitative,descriptive and exploratory approachs by gathering data from the family, professors and specialized institution coordinators. Semi structural interviews were conducted with deficient children, their respective mothers, and specialized institution coordinators. The regular school teachers of these children responded to a questionnaire for data gathering. The written recorded data analysis has made evident the fundamental role of the family - school interaction regarding to the scholar inclusion process. The family cooperative attitude regarding to the school has remarkably favoured this process. At the school side, the opening and availability attitudes, in attendig the visual deficient student, are fundamental elements for the interaction and development of them. The gathered data analysis has brought into light that the familiar dynamics was affected by the visual deficient insertion at school.The familiar dynamics was altered bringing new perspective to the family regarding to the child development, hopes and trust. It was also found that discriminating attitudes, behaving manner restriction and professors inadequate formation, negatively affected the inclusion process. The main concern of this thesis is the educational condition regarding the visual deficient child. To the referred concern was givem a motive for a study involving the family of the visual deficient child. The objective aimed at this study was the understanding and identification of mutual influences as exerted between the school and family in the social and scholar inclusion process. The findings drawn from the searching data lead to a conclusion that the relationship between school and the family, directly influences the student with visual deficiency inclusion in the scholar environment. The relevant relationship between family and school in the inclusion porcess put forward for consideration a study continuity to deeply understand this theme.

Orientador: Edmea Rita Temporini Nastari / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T00:20:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mazzaro_JoseLuiz_D.pdf: 2658396 bytes, checksum: 487f4424a3fd3a436ffbd688bcdf7721 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: Realizou-se um "survey" transversal, descritivo e analítico, com o objetivo de identificar conhecimentos e opiniões de professores e pais de alunos com baixa visão incluídos em escolas públicas da rede regular de ensino de Brasília (DF), em relação ao problema visual, equipamentos, sistemas, técnicas e recursos relacionados à deficiência visual e ao processo educacional, visando subsidiar programas de ensino de baixa visão. A população foi de 174 professores e 86 pais, compondo amostra não probabilística. Foram elaborados dois questionários estruturados, um auto-aplicável, respondido pelos professores e outro aplicado por entrevista aos pais. Para garantir a confiabilidade e a validade dos dados, os questionários foram submetidos a testes prévios. Em relação aos professores da população do estudo, predominaram os do sexo feminino (74,1%) e razoável experiência profissional. A maior parte (62,1%) lecionava pela primeira vez para alunos com baixa visão. A maioria (89,7%) deClarou formação superior completa e quase a totalidade (97,1%) que não possuía formação na área da deficiência visual, a maioria (73,0) não tinha recebido treinamento ou orientação nos últimos três anos. A maioria (73,0%) se auto-avaliou sem preparo para: lecionar para alunos com baixa visão e quase a totalidade (96,6%), dependência do professor especializado. Em relação à população dos pais, evidenciou-se ligeira predominância do sexo feminino (62,8%) e predomínio de baixa escolaridade. Pouco mais da metade (52,3%) não exerciam atividade remunerada e os que exe_ciam, eram atividades de baixa especialização. As causas da baixa visão mais apontadas pelos pais foram a toxoplasmose, a catarata e o glaucoma congênitos. Os familiares (53,%) foram os primeiros a suspeitarem de problema visual do filho, tendo ocorrido nos seis primeiros meses de vida. A maioria acreditava que o problema de visão dos filhos, atrapalhava para enxergar no quadro-negro, no caderno, na escrita e na leitura de livro. A maioria dos pais (73,1%), atribuíram a repetência escolar a outras dificuldades, tendo manifestado satisfação, com o atendimento da escola. Auto-avaliaram-se preparados para prestarem informações sobre a deficiência visual do filho. Os pais manifestaram conhecimento insuficiente sobre as limitações causadas pela deficiência visual e sobre as necessidades dos filhos, em relação a equipamentos, recursos e sistemas capazes de potencializar o uso da visão residual. Evidenciou-se que os professores manifestaram não apresentar conhecimentos suficientes para o desenvolvimento de trabalho pedagógico de qualidade com alunos que apresentavam baixa visão / Abstract: A descriptive and analytical cross-sectional survey was conducted, with the objective of identifying the knowledge and the opinions of teachers and parents of students with low vision in public schools of regular system of education in Brasília (DF), regarding the visual problem, equipment, systems, techniques and resources related to the visual deficiency and the educational process, aiming to subsidize programs of education in low vision. The population was of 174 teachers and 86 parents, consisting on a non-probabilistic sample. Two structuralized questionnaires had been elaborated: one auto-applicable, answered by the teachers, and another applied by interview with parents. To guarantee the trustworthiness and the validity of the data, the questionnaires had been submitted to previous tests. Concerning the teachers of the population of the study, the female sex predominated (74,1%) and also the ones with reasonable professional experience. The biggest part of them (62,1 %) taught students with low vision for the first time. The majority (89,7%) declared higher education and almost the totality (97,1%) didn't have vocational training in visual deficiency. The majority (73%) have not received . training or orientation in the last three years. Most of them had self-evaluated themselves without preparation to teach students with low vision and almost the totality (96,6%) of them depends on the support ofthe specialized teacher. Regarding the parents population, it was predominant the female sex (62,8%) with low leveI of education. A few more than a half(52,3%) didn't have income and the parents that did have ajob, had low specialization. Some examples of pointed causes for low vision by the parents were toxoplasmosis, cataract and the glaucoma congenital. The family members (53%) had been the ftrst ones to suspect of the visual problem of the child, occurring in the first six months of life. Most of them believed that the visual problem confused the child in seeing the blackboard, the notebook, in writing and in reading books. The majority of the parents (73,1%), had attributed failing at school to other difficulties, showing satisfaction with the attendance of school. Many parents had self-evaluated themselves prepared to give information of the visual deftciency of the sono The parents had revealed insufficient knowledge on the limitations caused by the visual deficiency and on the necessities of the children, regarding equipment, resources and systems capable of potentizing the use of the residual vision. lt was concluded that the teachers revealed insufficient knowledge for the development of a quality pedagogical work with low vision students / Doutorado / Ciencias Biomedicas / Doutor em Ciências Médicas

This thesis examines the responses of the educational system of Cyprus to increasing student diversity. The study it reports was set in a sensitive socio-political context, within which the previously homogenous Greek-Cypriot society faced an unprecedented and unanticipated rise in net migration rates from the mid-1990s. The need to respond effectively to the challenge of increasing population diversity and to issues of ethnic, linguistic, religious and cultural diversification was evident within the wider Cypriot society, and was reflected within the educational system. Despite this, there is an identified gap in knowledge and research on the topic of increasing student diversity in Cyprus. With these concerns in mind, the research focused on exploring the experiences of secondary school students of ages 11-14, who had recently arrived in Cyprus and were categorised as foreign-speaking. The aim was to explore factors hindering and promoting these students’ inclusion in schools through identifying barriers and resources to their presence, participation, achievement and socialisation. The study used a qualitative exploratory case study design. Data were collected in three secondary schools through a multi-method approach that considered the views of various school stakeholders, particularly the “voices” of foreign-speaking students regarding their school experiences. Data analysis involved the constant comparative method which allowed the consistent scrutiny of findings from various research methods using a theoretical framework based on the idea of inclusive education. A model was developed and used to discuss the perceived barriers and resources to foreign-speaking students’ inclusion. Barriers and resources were identified as stemming from educational policy, educational practice in schools and classrooms, students’ traits and characteristics, and finally students’ home and community environments. The barriers created a context of inequality of opportunities for foreign-speaking students’ school experiences and future life achievement in comparison to their other classmates. The findings of the study provide a basis for evaluating exclusionary pressures that prevent foreign-speaking students from engaging meaningfully with their school lives equally to other classmates, and propose that inclusive education within the Cypriot educational context can have a wider scope that does not rest only with traditional research on special needs education. It also confirms the importance of conducting contextualised educational research on issues of inclusion, as relevant literature presents inclusive schools as organisations that should address challenges in reflection to their own cultural and political context. The thesis also suggests that the identified barriers and resources have implications for policy and practice that need to be addressed in order to adopt more inclusive educational pedagogies for foreign-speaking students, and considers it important that the formulation of any response should be informed in reflection to similar international studies. Its implication lies with identifying unused resources that could otherwise be mobilised to enhance schools’ response to increasing diversity. Finally, it makes recommendations for future research on the identified resources for promoting inclusion. Such research should be directed at further exploring the factors contributing to providing equal educational opportunities for all learners within an approach that promotes respect for diversity and considers diversity as a source of inspiration and learning.