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.     

Swedish primary‐school teachers’ attitudes to inclusion – the case of PE and pupils with physical disabilities

Teachers play a decisive role in making inclusive education a reality. The particular case of inclusion in physical education (PE) poses a specific challenge to teaching practice. How PE teachers view inclusion may provide special insights into teachers’ general attitudes toward inclusion and inclusive practices in the general school curriculum. The aim of this study is to investigate Swedish PE teachers’ attitudes to inclusion of pupils with physical disabilities in mainstream PE classes at primary school. The sampling frame was members of the Swedish Teachers’ Union who had registered themselves as PE teachers and who indicated a current e‐mail address (n = 560). Respondents were invited to complete an e‐mail questionnaire with questions covering demographics, general attitudes, support from school management and staff, possible hindrances and personal experiences of inclusion. A total of 221 teachers (39%) responded, equal numbers of males and females with a bimodal age distribution (means of 28 and 44) with an average of eight years of service. On average, Swedish PE teachers are very positive to inclusion of pupils with physical disabilities into general PE. Gender, age, years of service and work satisfaction had no impact on general opinions of inclusive PE. PE teachers with actual previous experience of teaching pupils with physical disabilities were slightly more positive to inclusive PE. Stepwise multiple regressions were used to establish a predictive model of positive attitudes to inclusion based on: (1) having adequate training; (2) having general school support (from management and staff); and (3) demands on resources. This yielded an adjusted R ² that explained 33% of variation in attitudes.     

Maintaining the transfer of in-service teachers’ training in the workplace

Professional training and development is a major component of updating teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and skills. However, transferring such knowledge and skill may not always be successful. Based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), the present study has developed a model specifying the factors affecting transfer maintenance intention and behaviour. This model was tested with the partial least square approach to structural equation modelling. The results indicate that the TPB-oriented model is able to explain in-service teachers’ intention to maintain what they have learned from training in their jobs and their subsequent transfer maintenance behaviour. Moreover, the β coefficients indicate that attitude towards the behaviour was the major predictor of transfer maintenance intention, which was in turn the major predictor of transfer maintenance behaviour. Finally, research implications and practical implications have been provided in this study.     

Predicting people’s environmental behaviour: theory of planned behaviour and model of responsible environmental behaviour

Using different measures of self-reported and other-reported environmental behaviour (EB), two important theoretical models explaining EB – Hines, Hungerford and Tomera’s model of responsible environmental behaviour (REB) and Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour (TPB) – were compared regarding the fit between model and data, predictive ability, solidarity of the model structure and model modifications. Results of structural equation modelling revealed that the predictors in the TPB model explained much more variance in behavioural intention than those in the REB model (approximately 69 vs. 37%) but the two models differed little in explaining the variance in EB (about 75% with self-reported measure and 26% with other-reported measure). In addition, both suffered weakness of ineffective paths in the model structure. It was found that the operationalizations of the variables in the models might affect the results of the tests of these models and some adjustments and examinations were suggested. Although the REB model was shown to be imperfect in many aspects, it should be evaluated from a different viewpoint and was encouraged to be applied and tested in the context of environmental education.     

Departmental differences in attitudes to special educational needs in the secondary school

As trends in favour of inclusion continue, questions arise concerning the extent to which teachers in mainstream schools feel prepared for the task of meeting pupils' special educational needs. Little previous research has considered how the subject taught impacts upon the attitudes of mainstream teachers towards pupils with special educational needs. In this article, Jean Ellins, research fellow at the University of Birmingham, and Jill Porter, senior lecturer at the University of Bath, report on their research into the attitudes of teachers in one mainstream secondary school. Building a detailed case study using documents, records of pupil progress, an interview and a questionnaire using a Likert-type attitude scale and open-ended questions, these researchers set out to explore distinctions between the attitudes of teachers working in different departments. Their findings suggest that the teachers of the core subjects, English, mathematics and science, had less positive attitudes than their colleagues. Further, pupils with special educational needs made least progress in science where teacher attitudes were the least positive. Jean Ellins and Jill Porter review the implications of these findings and make recommendations for future practice and further enquiry.     

试论学校体育与学生终身体育思想的形成

随着终身体育思想的出现,终身体育对学校体育提出了新的要求,学校体育必须适应时代的要求,不断探索,让学生养成良好的体育锻炼习惯,培养学生终身体育的意识。     

Exploring inclusive education: early steps for prospective secondary school teachers

Recent changes in the structure of initial teacher education have resulted in teacher training institutions having to think again about how they address the issue of inclusion within their provision. In this article, Sue Pearson, who co-ordinates the MA (SEN) programme in the School of Education at the University of Leeds, and who contributes to Post Graduate Certificate in Education training, reports on developments in the training of secondary phase geography teachers. The article examines the planning, development and evaluation of a session which was designed to complement students' school-based experiences and other university-based sessions. The activity was co-taught by the geography and inclusive education tutors. The tutors used activity theory to analyse the elements of inclusive education and drew upon the literature related to the training of health professionals to design the session. This led to the adoption of a problem-based learning approach involving simulation activity. Sue Pearson provides details of the planned session together with evaluations from the tutors and students. She argues that this type of session, early in the university-based part of the course, provides a productive environment in which prospective teachers can be alerted to some of the complexities and uncertainties of inclusive education. While the initiative described here was matched to circumstances at the University of Leeds, the collaboration between tutors, the planning process and the style of activity have wider implications.     

The role of autonomy supportive activities on students’ motivation and beliefs toward out-of-school activities

Physical education in elementary education usually provides children’s first contact with sports. According to the trans-contextual model of motivation, physical education teachers can positively influence children’s beliefs toward and actual leisure time physical activity behavior. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of a dance-based physical education program on motivation regarding physical education lesson participation, as well as leisure time physical activity participation. The sample consisted of 252 pupils attending Grades 5 and 6 of elementary school (M_age?=?10.48 years, SD?=?0.50 years). Participants were randomly assigned into three groups. The first group attended a physical education lesson based on various forms of dance, the second one attended lessons with Greek traditional dances only, and the third group served as active control group that attended the typical curriculum. The intervention lasted six weeks. Before and after the intervention, students completed survey-based measures of motivational climate, motivational regulations in physical education and leisure time, enjoyment, attitudes, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and intentions toward leisure time physical activity. In support of the trans-contextual model, results showed that students in the dance intervention programs scored significantly higher in perceptions of motivational climate and beliefs toward leisure time physical activity. The findings of the study suggest that dancing lessons at school can bolster more positive attitudes and beliefs toward physical education and leisure time physical activity.     

A response to Padeliadu: can student attitudes exist outside the school climate?

The present study explored typically developing children’s understanding of, and attitudes towards, the inclusion of children with physical disabilities (PD) in mainstream settings. The 60 children who participated in the study attended sixth grade in two mainstream primary schools (30 in contact with a child with PD and 30 without such contact). They filled in a questionnaire to measure understanding of disabilities and one to explore attitudes towards inclusion. Analyses revealed that children in contact with a child with PD had a better understanding of the emotional and social problems associated with the presence of PD than the comparison group. Moreover, children in contact with a child with PD expressed more positive attitudes towards the inclusion of children with PD in relation to children without such contact. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of contact in the formation of more positive attitudes towards the inclusion of children with PD.     

河北省随班就读残疾儿童体育教育现状调查与分析

采用文献资料、问卷调查、数理统计等研究方法,对来自河北省6个地区的39所有随班就读残疾儿童的普通学校领导、体育教师和残疾学生进行调查,结果表明：领导和教师对接纳残疾儿童随班就读持消极态度,对残疾儿童体育教育没有给予应有的重视,随班就读生体育意识差,体育课出勤率和课外体育活动参与率都很低,教学内容“常人化”,不符合残疾儿童特点。文章分析了原因并提出对策和建议。     

通过体育教育促进学生心理健康发展

介绍了体育教育中促进学生心理发展的主要标志、基本内容、基本途径与方法等方面的研究成果,阐述了体育教育对提高学生心理素质的作用,为探讨体育教育促进学生心理全面发展提供了依据。