ETD RECORD
A comparison of Taiwan educators' attitudes, knowledge, and perceived barriers toward the inclusion of students with disabilities
Citation
Hsu, Tsui-Fang(Tracy). (2010). A comparison of Taiwan educators' attitudes, knowledge, and perceived barriers toward the inclusion of students with disabilities. Theses and Dissertations Collection, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections. https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/etd/items/etd_62.html
- Title:
- A comparison of Taiwan educators' attitudes, knowledge, and perceived barriers toward the inclusion of students with disabilities
- Author:
- Hsu, Tsui-Fang(Tracy)
- Date:
- 2010
- Keywords:
- Teachers--Taiwan--Yün-lin hsien--Attitudes School administrators--Taiwan--Yün-lin hsien--Attitudes Special education teachers--Taiwan--Yün-lin hsien--Attitudes Children with disabilities--Education--Taiwan--Yün-lin hsien
- Program:
- Education
- Abstract:
- This study was conducted with school personnel in Yun-Lin County, a rural school district of Taiwan, to identify and compare the attitudes of school administrators, regular education teachers, and special education teachers toward the inclusion of students with disabilities in the regular classroom and to identify the extent to which inclusion is an accepted practice. Another purpose was to identify and compare each group's knowledge of strategies used within schools or classrooms to support inclusion and each group's perceptions of barriers to inclusion. Last, the association of the participants' attitudes, knowledge, and perceptions to demographic information (e.g., age, years of service, education) was analyzed.;There were 539 questionnaires returned from 756 surveys distributed for an overall return rate of 71%. A total of 513 usable surveys were analyzed consisting of 60 administrators, 412 regular education teachers, and 41 special education teachers. Data from the survey were analyzed descriptively. The statistical significance level of .05 was set when Kruskal-Wallis one-way Analysis of Variance was applied to test the statistical difference among three groups. The Mann-Whitney U test was run as a post hoc test to identify statistically significant differences between groups (i.e. administrators and regular education teachers, administrators and special education teachers, and regular education teachers and special education teachers). The Bonferroni correction was applied to adjust the statistical significance alpha level from .05 to .017 (.05 divided by the number of comparisons). Spearman's rho was applied to determine the relationships between educators' attitudes and characteristics. The researcher read and analyzed responses to open-ended statements.;The major findings of the survey were summarized as follows: 1. Educators had positive attitudes toward the concept of inclusion and the social benefits of inclusion; however, educators had reservations on the application of inclusion and had less positive attitudes toward academic benefits of inclusion. 2. Educators disagreed that self-contained classrooms would have negative impact on students with disabilities. 3. Educators' perceptions of appropriate educational placements for students with disabilities differed depending on the severity of the disability; the greater the severity, the more segregated the environment should be. Educator's responses indicated that the less restrictive environment (i.e., part-time regular classroom) was an appropriate placement for students with mild disabilities and the more restrictive environment (i.e., self-contained classroom or special education school) was most appropriate for students with moderate to severe disabilities. 4. The results of strategies used to support inclusion were mixed, particularly among regular educators, and were difficult to interpret. In general, regular educators used the strategies listed in this study less frequently as compared to administrators, and special educators. 5. The results of perceived barriers were also mixed across survey items and groups, particularly among regular educators, thus were difficult to interpret. All three groups marked a high proportion of neutral responses, especially in areas that might be perceived as "sensitive" or critical of the support within and outside school system. 6. The results of this study indicated that background variables such as age, years of service and education were not highly correlated with attitudes, or perceptions regarding the inclusion of students with disabilities.
- Description:
- Thesis (Ph. D., Education)--University of Idaho, May 2010.
- Major Professor:
- Julie Fodor.
- Defense Date:
- May 2010.
- Type:
- Text
- Format Original:
- xv, 232 leaves ;29 cm.
- Format:
- record
Rights
- Rights:
- In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted. For more information, please contact University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives Department at libspec@uidaho.edu.
- Standardized Rights:
- http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/