Attitudes of parents towards inclusive education: a review of the literature

The aim of this study is to review literature about parents’ attitudes towards inclusive education. Special attention is paid to parents’ attitudes and to the effect of these on the social participation of children with special needs in regular schools. A review of the literature resulted in 10 studies showing that the majority of parents hold positive attitudes. However, parents of children with special needs reported various concerns, including the availability of services in regular schools and individualised instruction. Several variables were found which relate to parents’ attitudes, such as social‐economic status, education level, experience with inclusion and type of disability. No studies examined the effects of parental attitudes on the social participation of children with special needs. The importance of positive parental attitudes is elaborated in the discussion.     

Building strong parent–teacher relationships in primary education: the challenge of two-way communication

This study investigates which subjects teachers talk about with parents in parent–teacher conferences and other contact moments, and how they communicate with regard to these subjects. Fifty-five in-depth interviews were carried out with teachers from special education schools, at-risk schools serving low socio-economic status children and mainstream primary education schools in the southern part of the Netherlands. The results illustrate that (1) two-way communication is used the most in at-risk schools, (2) teachers find it difficult to involve parents in the decision-making process concerning special care for the child, and (3) the teachers’ attitude towards parents is best when it comes to difficult discussion topics. When situations are really difficult, teachers stand alongside the parents instead of addressing them from their expert role, asking them ‘How can we solve this together?’. Teachers should be more aware of this quality, and not be afraid to address difficult subjects or conflicts.     

智力落后学生家长对辅读学校的态度调查

为了解智力落后学生家长对辅读学校的态度,我们对上海市一些辅读学校的智力落后学生家长及随班就读的智力落后学生家长进行了问卷调查。内容主要包括家长与学生的基本情况、对辅读学校的认可度、学生的学习情况、家长对教师的态度、学生在校的情绪、家长对辅读学校的心态等方面。结果表明,随班就读学生家长对辅读学校的认识明显较少,对于在辅读学校就读抱着较消极的态度,辅读学校学生家长对辅读学校的评价普遍较高。此外,本研究根据研究结果提出了一些相关建议。     

Parents' attitudes to inclusion of their children with special needs

This study investigated the attitudes of 354 Australian parents who have a child with a disability and who attends a state school in Queensland. The types of disability of the children were broadly in accordance with accepted prevalence figures, except for a greater number reported as having autistic spectrum disorder and fewer students with a learning difficulty/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The children were in a range of classes, from special schools to schools where there was in-class help from a special teacher or teacher aide. Many of the parents favoured inclusion, some would if additional resources were provided, and a small group of parents favoured special placement. There were a limited number of negative attitudes to inclusion reported by the parents, and though some parents thought that some need existed for in-service education about inclusion, this was not a widespread view.     

THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH‐‐II

Recent work aimed at involving parents more in the teaching of reading by encouraging parents to hear their children read school reading books at home has created a great deal of interest. But to what extent does it depart from normal school practice?

Little is known about schools’ attitudes to parental involvement in home‐based, as opposed to school‐based, educational activities. Therefore a study was made of a sample of 16 infant and first schools. Interviews were carried out with head teachers, all teachers of seven‐year‐olds, and some of their pupils. It was found that whilst there was general support for the idea of parental involvement in the teaching of reading this stopped short of helping parents hear their own children read at home. An examination of the schools’ practice suggested that at present comparatively few children regularly take school reading books to read at home.     

Factors Influencing Attitudes About Family-School Communication for Parents of Children With Mild Learning Problems: Preliminary Findings

Parents' attitudes toward communication with schools were explored using a family systems model (Seligman & Darling, 1989). Factors that influence these attitudes were regressed against a measure of parental attitudes. The results of a survey of 369 parents of 5- to 21-year-old children with mild handicaps indicated that having knowledge about special education and being provided with information about special education were negatively related to parents' attitudes toward communication with the schools. In contrast, the frequency of interactive activity between the school and family was shown to be positively related to these attitudes. Implications for both practice and research are explored, particularly those concerning parent-school collaboration.     

Prevention of child sexual abuse in China: knowledge, attitudes, and communication practices of parents of elementary school children

OBJECTIVE: Active involvement by parents may contribute substantially to the success of school-based programs to prevent child sexual abuse (CSA). In China, little is known about parental understanding of CSA. This study investigated Chinese parents' knowledge, attitudes, and communication practices with their children about CSA. METHOD: Six hundred and fifty-two parents of Grade 3 pupils of seven elementary schools in Jingzhou city, Hubei province (central China), completed an anonymous questionnaire (response rate=81%). RESULTS: More than 95% of respondents agreed that elementary schools should provide programs to prevent CSA and were willing to have their children participate in such programs. Although nearly all parents talked with their children about stranger danger, they were much less likely to talk specifically about sexual abuse. Many parents personally lacked basic knowledge about characteristics of perpetrators, the sexual abuse of boys, and nonphysical consequences of CSA. About half (46.8%) expressed some concern that CSA preventive education could cause their children to know "too much about sex." Contrary to expectations from research in western nations, parents who talked with their children about CSA did not have better knowledge or more supportive attitudes to CSA prevention than did parents who said they never discussed CSA with their children. CONCLUSION: This study confirms and extends two recent surveys indicating strong support for the concept of school-based CSA prevention in China. However, given the apparently low levels of knowledge about CSA, even among those who talk about this problem with their children, future prevention programs should include community-wide efforts to educate adults to ensure that parental advice is accurate and hopefully, effective.     

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.     

Inclusive and exclusive aspects of diagnosed children's self-concepts in special needs institutions

Eight children between 7 and 11 years of age were interviewed about their understanding of their own diagnoses. The diagnoses in question were attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism and nonverbal learning disorder. They were from different special schools that are segregated from state schools. In addition to the interviews, a role play setting with dolls representing a school teacher, parents, peers, a school psychologist and a doctor was used as a basis for speaking about the children's understanding of the special school in relation to their diagnoses. The study revealed that the children use a simplified medical model for understanding their diagnoses and behaviour. Furthermore, they partly perceive the special school as a medical institution, as well as an educational institution. Finally, the study showed that the children consider themselves different from normal children and incapable of participating in shared learning communities such as state schools. This is of particular interest in relation to these children's future transition from special schools to public learning institutions, especially with regard to their inclusion in the latter.     

Greenhouse affect: the relationship between the sustainable design of schools and children’s environmental attitudes

This study aims to determine if primary school children’s environmental attitudes can be predicted by whether their school had been designed or adapted for sustainability. A New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale for children was adopted to measure attitudes, with supplementary questions added to align this scale to the Australian context of the study. In addition, the original adult NEP scale was used to determine relationships between children’s environmental attitudes, their School Design and their Parents’ and Teachers’ Environmental Attitudes. Data collected from grade 4, 5 and 6 primary school children, their parents and teachers were analysed via three multiple regressions. The results indicate that sustainable design in schools improves the environmental attitudes of children towards perceptibly green building features, such as solar panels, the use of recycled water, natural daylighting and outdoor classrooms including food-producing gardens.     

Parental Participation: Essential Partners in Guidance

The relationship between parents and schools has in recent years been a controversial and contradictory one. Here Barrie Irving discusses one dimension that impinges on this relationship—vocational guidance—and how interactions between teachers and parents could be made more productive, particularly from the perspective of parents. Having suggested that often the interchange of information and ideas is limited by the attitudes and perceived interests of both schools and parents, Irving goes on to focus on a particular issue, the fact that although parents are given information about their children, they are rarely if ever given the means to develop on this.     

智力落后儿童家庭性教育状况的调查研究

对北京、南京、深圳三地10所培智学校处于青春期学生的家庭性教育状况的调查表明：智力落后儿童的家庭性教育比较薄弱，甚至在一些家庭中是空白的。表现在家长性知识匮乏；不少家长存在观念深处的问题，在对子女进行性教育中所应承担的责任和应扮演的角色认识不足：家长对智力落后儿童有被动的性教育行为，而主动、正面、积极地对孩子进行性教育与指导的较少。在此基础上提出相应的建议。     

THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The educational needs of mentally handicapped children in the ‘new’ day special schools are examined from three major perspectives. First, as a result of the examination of questionnaires received from headteachers of 88 schools; second as a result of the examination of the skills of 151 mentally handicapped children in 44 of these schools, and third as a result of an examination of questionnaires completed for 52 parents of mentally handicapped children. The results of the investigation highlight the effect of these schools being in the ‘educational wilderness’ until April, 1st, 1971; the low level of achievement in certain social skills, and parental problems and attitudes.     

‘There are lots of different kinds of normal’: families and sex education – styles,approaches and concerns

This paper reports on qualitative research with Australian parents concerning their attitudes to sexuality and relationships education, both at home and in school. A wide range of values and attitudes were represented among parents in this study. Regardless of the varying approaches parents used, all participants expressed a desire for their children to be well informed about sex, sexual health and relationships, yet many felt inadequate to the task of providing high-quality sex education to their children. Some participants blamed this lack of confidence on their own limited education about sexuality. Their main concern was to ensure that their children are safe and that when they do become sexually active their experiences of sex are positive. Most participants saw sex education as primarily their responsibility, with school sex education as an important adjunct. They wanted to be well informed about the timing and content of school programmes for their children, and to be assured that those educators who will be teaching their children about sexual health have the skills and qualifications to do their job well, while remaining sensitive to the diversity of values among students and their families. While most parents who participated in the research supported sexuality education in schools, they did so with reservations. In particular, they wanted schools to take an active role in communicating with them about the content of sexuality education programmes and be open to meeting with those parents who expressed concerns.     

Health-Related Quality of Life in Children Attending Special and Typical Education Greek Schools

The purpose of this study was to examine parental perceptions about Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of typical education and special education students in Greece. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) was administered to the parents of 251 children from typical schools, 46 students attending integration classes (IC) within a typical school and 97 students attending special education (segregated) schools. A two-way analysis of covariance indicated that, compared to their typically developing peers, children attending special education schools and IC were reported by their parents to have lower PedsQL scores. Compared to children attending special education schools, children attending IC showed no differences in all PedsQL domains but the emotional domain score (p < .05). Based on parents’ responses, further improvements in special education settings and environments in the Greek educational system might be necessary to improve the HRQOL of students with disabilities.     

基于《幼儿园教师专业标准（试行）》的幼师生专业情意培养

《幼儿园教师专业标准（试行）》强调师德与专业态度是教师职业的基准线,对幼儿园教师的师德与专业态度提出了特别要求。作为培养未来幼儿教师的摇篮,幼儿师范学校可能通过以下路径加强师范生专业情意的培养：注重职业规划,引领专业认知;注重情感培养,激发专业情意;注重教育实践,坚定专业信念;注重活动课程,提升专业道德。     

Children with Special Educational Needs: Parents' Knowledge of Procedures and Provisions

The author carried out an investigation in Sheffield in 1989, when he was a student nurse (RNMH). He addressed a questionnaire to parents of children with learning difficulties, concerning their knowledge of the procedures for issuing statements of special educational needs, their communications with teachers and other professionals and their attitudes towards integration in mainstream schools.     

Parental Participation: Essential Partners in Guidance

The relationship between parents and schools has in recent years been a controversial and contradictory one. Here Barrie Irving discusses one dimension that impinges on this relationship—vocational guidance—and how interactions between teachers and parents could be made more productive, particularly from the perspective of parents. Having suggested that often the interchange of information and ideas is limited by the attitudes and perceived interests of both schools and parents, Irving goes on to focus on a particular issue, the fact that although parents are given information about their children, they are rarely if ever given the means to develop on this.     

Teacher and parental views on inclusive education policy lending in the Czech Republic

In international education policy articulations by organisations such as the UNESCO, inclusive education is defined rather vaguely, usually in terms of human rights. Yet, national reception it is more or less taken for granted. Analyses of policy lending show that when national education traditions are not respected, the lack of clarity about the concrete form of inclusion is further augmented by resistance to a foreign import. Taking the example of the implementation of inclusive education in the Czech Republic, a secondary analysis of survey results on responses from teachers and parents is presented. This analysis contributes to a better understanding of the reactions of two groups of actors who have had only a marginal involvement in preparing the implementation of inclusion; specifically, teachers at ordinary schools and parents of pupils with special education needs. Teachers are critical of inclusion, which they regard as special care for individual pupils with special education needs. It is only in schools which have lengthy experience with integration that a transformation of the school culture and the teaching profession in the direction of greater teamwork has taken place. The imperative of inclusion coming from above is regarded more as interference with what is a spontaneous development. The view of parents to pupils with special education needs was that systemic support to inclusion was lacking. Parents are forced to be intermediaries between other actors, but often do not have enough information and are not respected by teachers as experts on their children.