What do I think about inclusive education? It depends on who is asking. Experimental evidence for a social desirability bias in attitudes towards inclusion

Recently, research has focused on attitudes towards inclusive education, and the majority of studies use questionnaires to measure this vital variable. In two consecutive experiments, we showed that attitudes towards inclusive education are not stable but instead are significantly influenced by social context. We manipulated information on the organisation conducting a survey regarding attitudes of participants towards inclusive education. The results show that the attitude of the organisation conducting the survey – as perceived by the participant – outperforms well-documented variables (e.g. sex, age, and contact to a person with disability) in predicting the attitudes of the participant towards inclusion. This one variable explains as much variance as all other predictors combined. We argue that social desirability is a neglected issue in research on attitudes towards inclusive education. Our findings challenge the validity of numerous studies on this topic because they show a positive bias in the attitudes of participants when they were surveyed by a university. Thus, we outline the first steps to reduce social desirability-induced validity problems in research on attitudes towards inclusion.     

Ambivalent implicit attitudes towards inclusion in preservice PE teachers: The need for assessing both implicit and explicit attitudes towards inclusion

Explicit attitudes towards inclusion are increasingly investigated in (preservice) teachers. However, few studies examine implicit attitudes towards inclusion, despite the advantage of being less sensitive to social desirability. Since inclusion is a sensitive topic, we aimed to investigate implicit and explicit attitudes towards inclusion as well as interactions between these attitudes. Using the Single-Target Implicit Association Test, early semester preservice teachers exhibited ambivalent implicit attitudes and positive explicit attitudes. Implicit attitudes were negatively correlated with explicit attitudes. Methodological and contentual explanations for these findings are discussed and theory-based implications for university education are suggested.     

I agree to sit next to you. Does that mean I like you? Measuring using the wrong tapeline – the lack of ‘Social Distance’ measures for inclusive school development and research – a review of the literature

This review provides an overview of definitions and measurements of ‘Social Distance’ and attitudes children without disabilities carry towards children with disabilities. Measures include explicit and implicit approaches but clearly, the ‘Bogardus Social Distance Scale’ (A Social Distance Scale, 1933, 14 May 2014) is the most used scale in research, yet it is outdated. For a deeper look into what impacts children's ‘Social Distance’ in inclusive school settings and in order to find measurable constructs, relevant attitude questionnaires are discussed. To bring long‐used measures and attitudes together, a comprehensive model of ‘Social distance’ is introduced. This model integrates the classical view on ‘Social Distance’ as interaction willingness with feelings associated with this interaction and includes attitudes children carry towards individuals and towards the group the interaction partner is believed to belong to. In summary, this paper shows the need for a more comprehensive and precise measure on how school children really engage with one another.     

Teachers' explicit expectations and implicit prejudiced attitudes to educational achievement: Relations with student achievement and the ethnic achievement gap

In this paper, we consider whether teachers' explicit and implicit prejudiced attitudes underlie the ethnic achievement gap. To date, most research on teacher expectation effects has relied on explicit expectation measures that are prone to social desirability biases. In contrast, we examine the effects of teachers' (a) explicit ethnicity-based expectations for academic achievement and (b) implicit prejudiced attitudes about academic achievement on students' actual academic success over time. A total of 38 teachers completed both a traditional teacher expectation measure and a modified Implicit Association Task designed to assess ethnic stereotypes associated with academic achievement and failure. A multi-level analytic framework showed that students in classrooms of teachers with high expectations performed better in reading at the end of the year and that these effects were found across all ethnic groups. In contrast, whereas students' mathematics achievement scores were largely unrelated to teachers' explicit expectations, teachers' implicit prejudiced attitudes predicted student performance. Specifically, students benefited most academically when their teachers' implicit biases favored the ethnic group to which the student belonged. Findings are discussed in relation to differences in the salience of teachers' expectations and implicit prejudiced attitude in the classroom, and the ethnic achievement gap.     

Preservice Teachers' Attitudes Toward Inclusion and Toward Students with Special Educational Needs from Different Ethnic Backgrounds

Drawing on social cognition frameworks, we experimentally examined preservice teachers' implicit attitudes toward students with special educational needs (SEN) from different ethnic backgrounds and preservice teachers' explicit attitudes toward inclusive education. Preservice teachers (N = 46) completed an evaluative priming task and questionnaires. Results showed indifferent implicit attitudes toward students with SEN with immigrant backgrounds and positive implicit attitudes toward those without immigrant backgrounds. Furthermore, participants reported a high motivation to act without prejudice toward minorities but held less favorable explicit attitudes toward inclusion of students with SEN, especially students with behavioral problems. Differential patterns of implicit and explicit evaluations could bias teachers' interactions with students. Findings are discussed with respect to implications for educational practice and research.     

Aspiring to include versus implicit ‘othering’: teachers' perceptions of inclusive education in Wales

Wales, one of the four nations of the UK, is currently undergoing major education system-level reform. From the curriculum, through to a new additional learning needs (ALN) system, there is a renewed focus on inclusive education. Research has shown the importance of teachers' attitudes towards inclusion in creating inclusive learning environments. This research study is based on data from a survey of teachers in Wales (n = 253) exploring their perceptions of inclusive education. Thematic analysis of open-text responses revealed that while teachers were able to articulate the ‘ideal’ of inclusion, these positive ideals were often caveated by both implicit othering of learners with ALN and by the explicit limitations of behaviour, training, and finance and resources. This article critically evaluates the implications of teacher perceptions of inclusive education in Wales, suggesting that without a change in teacher attitudes, the vision of an inclusive education system may be compromised.     

Time to end the bias towards inclusive education?

The UK coalition Government's call to end the ‘bias’ towards inclusion represents a shift in ‘policy speak’ as the new administration attempts to re‐narrate special education by putting forward a ‘reasonable and sensible’ solution to the ‘problem of inclusion’. However, implicit in the call is the assumption that there has, in fact, been a ‘bias towards inclusion’ in education policy and practice; here, that assumption is challenged. Using a critical disability studies perspective, Katherine Runswick‐Cole, who is a research fellow in Disability Studies and Psychology in the Research Institute of Health and Social Change at Manchester Metropolitan University, draws on the concept of ableism and critiques of neo‐liberal market systems in education to reveal and explore the persistent barriers to inclusive education embedded within the education system. It is argued that although there may have been an inclusive education policy rhetoric, this rhetoric is rooted in conceptual incongruities which, rather than promoting inclusion, undermine an inclusive approach to education.     

Is contact with people with disabilities a guarantee for positive implicit and explicit attitudes?

In the past 50 years research on attitudes toward people with disabilities has repeatedly revealed negative attitudes by predominantly using self-report measures. The main aim of the present contribution was to develop an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess implicit attitudes toward people with disabilities. For this purpose 47 university students majoring in special education (11 male, 36 female) were asked to complete the IAT in addition to self-reported explicit attitudes (affective, cognitive, and behavioural component). Moreover, the students were asked about the amount and perceived quality of their contact experience with people with disabilities. Results showed that participants reported on average most negative explicit attitudes in the affective, followed by the cognitive and the behavioural component. On average, students were more likely to associate the category ‘disabled’ with the attribute ‘unpleasant’ on the IAT. Overall, explicit and implicit attitudes were only weakly correlated. The amount of contact significantly predicted the three components of explicit attitudes, but not implicit attitudes. The results and limitations of this study will be discussed with respect to their implications for the educational context.     

Implementing inclusion in disabling settings: the role of teachers’ attitudes and practices

Teachers’ attitudes towards disabled students seem to define the extent to which teaching practices are inclusive. Aiming to explore Cyprus secondary education teachers’ attitudes and practice, and the consequent implications for the future of disabled students and inclusive education, we conducted mixed methods research. Our research typology was sequential and integrated. First, we conducted a survey, during which we received 536 questionnaires from our randomly selected stratified sample of Cyprus secondary education teachers. The survey was followed by interviews with 21 Greek Philology teachers that enriched the findings from the quantitative phase. Data analysis revealed that even though Cyprus secondary education teachers have a rather positive attitude towards disabled students, they have low expectations from them and do not employ inclusive teaching practice. In addition, they tend to categorise students based on abstract notions about ability. Stereotypes and prejudice are more evident regarding students with cognitive disabilities. Despite the observed disabling practices, participants postulated that there is hope to implement inclusive education, if teachers are trained for inclusion and thereby begin to see the person and not the disability.     

Student teachers' attitudes and beliefs towards using ICT within inclusive education and practice

The areas of education inclusion and digital inclusion have recently received growing interest from the research community while addressing the wider concern of social inclusion, but little research has been carried out exploring the relationship between the two areas. Central to both areas, this paper presents a study that investigated student teachers' attitudes towards using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for equality as part of inclusive education and practice, and explored the extent to which it is important that student teachers are prepared for both education and digital inclusion. The study focused on the attitudes of student teachers who had taken a new reformed course on inclusive education and practice within a Scottish University. Results from the study showed that student teachers' attitudes towards using ICT for teaching and learning were strongly positive, and were also strongly positive towards inclusive education. Their attitudes towards inclusive practice and using ICT for inclusive practice were slightly less positive. This seemed to result in ICT being used less in terms of inclusive education and more from the perspective of accessibility to the curriculum. The study provided evidence that the impact of ICT as part of inclusive practice is not well understood by student teachers and that student teachers' attitudes towards digital equality do not feature highly in inclusive practices. Consequently, greater attention to ways in which ICT is used for inclusive purposes is needed in Initial Teacher Education and in education policies in order to improve student teachers' preparedness for education inclusion.     

Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education: a critical review of published questionnaires

Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education affect its successful implementation within mainstream schools. This paper reviews nine questionnaires which capture primary school teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion, with the aim to support researchers in selecting the most appropriate measure according to the purpose of their study. Most of the reviewed questionnaires showed acceptable reliability and validity. The Multidimensional Attitudes towards Inclusive Education Scale (MATIES) and the Sentiments, Attitudes, and Concerns about Inclusive Education Revised Scale (SACIE-R) were the only questionnaires with adequate psychometric properties which addressed the affective, cognitive and behavioural components of teachers’ attitudes. As another psychometrically sound scale, the Teachers’ Attitude towards Inclusion Scale (TAIS) was found to use more up-to-date terminology and suitably addressed the cognitive and behavioural components. This paper provides a useful resource to facilitate the appropriate selection of questionnaires that measure teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion.     

Implicit Association Tests of Attitudes Toward Persons With Disabilities

The authors assessed 3 of the currently available implicit association tests designed to measure attitudes toward persons with disabilities. The Revised Multiple Disability Implicit Association Test, the Implicit Association Test for Attitudes Toward Athletes With Disabilities, and the Disability Attitude Implicit Association Test were related to each other, demonstrating some consistency in measurement. They were mostly unrelated, however, to more traditional, explicit measures of attitudes toward persons with disabilities. In addition, although the implicit association tests were not related to socially desirable responding, the most psychometrically sound explicit measure (The Interaction With Disabled Persons Scale) was related to socially desirable responding.     

社会主义核心价值观外显态度与内隐态度的分离研究

采用标准化的青少年社会主义核心价值观问卷进行外显态度测量,以单类内隐联想测验（SC-IAT）进行内隐态度测量,探究社会主义核心价值观的外显、内隐双重态度的状况及两者关系。研究发现：外显态度上,多达84.9%的被试对社会主义核心价值观持有积极态度;而内隐态度上,仅有59.3%的被试持有正向态度,存在25.6%的被试外显态度和内隐态度测量结果不一致,出现分离效应（Z=-4.690,p<0.001）。社会主义核心价值观的外显态度和内隐态度均积极肯定,但相关不显著,是两个独立的认知结构和评价系统。     

Pre-service teachers’ attitude towards inclusive education for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Malaysia

In this study, the pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards the educational inclusion for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) were investigated to identify their attitudinal patterns and predictors. An attitudinal survey was conducted with 264 pre-service teachers in a teacher training programme in Malaysia. The study involved 151 special education pre-service teachers and 181 pre-service teachers in Special Education, Sciences, and in English teacher training programmes, in order to identify the effects of teaching specialisations and societal attitude on their inclusive education attitudinal measures. The findings revealed that the special education pre-service teachers were less in favour of the total inclusion of students with ASD in the mainstream, when compared with the non-special education pre-service teachers. The findings also revealed the combined effects of societal attitude and a categorical teacher training model in shaping the pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education for the students with ASD in Malaysia. Such combined effects offered a perspective to explain the delay in the implementation of inclusive education, and also the prospect of its future development in the Southeast Asian region.     

First-year University Students of Educational Sciences on Inclusive Education: Attitudes and convictions in Flanders

Inclusion does not yet exist in Flanders, and the realisation of its idea is advancing with difficulty. Three years ago a new curriculum for educational sciences was set up at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, aimed at forming experts in inclusive education at university level. It is expected that students, having undergone this kind of training, will have an open mind and a positive attitude towards inclusive education. Attitudes and beliefs concerning inclusive education play an important part in its implementation. This study intends to assess the attitude of VUB students to inclusion and inclusive education. First-year students (150) were asked to fill in a questionnaire. They all took two introductory courses on inclusive education. The questionnaire appears useful, but needs fine tuning. The belief that attitudes towards inclusion consist of three separate dimensions, as shown by previous research, can no longer be upheld. Students do not really opt for inclusion. They do not oppose inclusion and inclusive education, but they do not advocate it either. This study suggests that inclusive education in Flanders faces an insecure future.     

Knowledge and perceived social norm predict parents’ attitudes towards inclusive education

Parents are key stakeholders in education and their support is pivotal to policy implementation. Through a large-scale survey, the present study investigated the validity of a structural model describing the relationship between attitude, knowledge, and perceived social norm among parents of children with special needs. Results revealed that knowledge and perceived social norm were powerful predictors of parents’ attitudes towards inclusion and the two predictors were intercorrelated. Exploratory analyses on the effect of demographic variables on parents’ attitudes demonstrated that male parents exhibited more positive attitudes towards inclusion than female parents; and parents of children at a higher grade level indicated less positive attitudes. Cultural issues of parents’ concerns about inclusive practice are discussed.     

Individual and cultural factors in teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion: A meta-analysis

The success of inclusive education is dependent upon classroom teachers implementing adaptations for children with disabilities. Given that willingness to make such adaptations is influenced by teacher attitudes, the current study examined teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education through a meta-analysis of 64 samples that were found via a systematic literature search. The results indicated that teachers hold a positive attitude towards inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream schools and that these attitudes are moderated by an interplay of cultural and demographical factors. The findings offer a renewed basis for intervention research into improving educational opportunities for children around the world.     

Social Desirability,Environmental Attitudes,and General Ecological Behaviour in Children

Socially desirable responses have been widely discussed as potentially biasing self-reported measures of environmental attitude and behaviour assessment. The direct and moderating effect of social desirability on children has not been analysed before. By applying a Lie scale together with a two-factor environmental attitude set measure and a scale of self-reported General Ecological Behaviour (GEB) to 198 pupils, we found a moderate impact of Lie scores on only one of both attitude measures and a small impact on GEB. In a multiple regression analysis general behaviour was predicted by attitude, social desirability, and the interaction of both. Social desirability had no moderating effect on the relationship between environmental attitudes and behaviour. Implications of these outcomes for research on environmental issues with children are discussed.     

Factors related to pre-service teachers' attitudes towards inclusion: a case for Zambia

Inclusive education has become a global trend in the provision of services for students with disabilities. In Zambia and other developing nations, international initiatives from UNESCO and other nongovernmental organisations have contributed to the consensus that all children have a right to a free and appropriate education and that all students with disabilities should be educated in inclusive settings. This study examined Zambian university students' attitudes towards including students with disabilities in general education classrooms. While attitudes towards inclusion have been studied widely in some countries, little research in this area has been conducted in Zambia. Questionnaires were distributed to 497 Zambian university students. Four hundred and eighty-four questionnaires were included in the analysis, resulting in a response rate of 97%. Results of the study indicated that, overall, Zambian university students hold positive attitudes towards inclusion. Several factors were found to be related to the students' attitudes towards inclusion.