A decade ago, most children with special needs (Slovenian: OPP) attended special schools, but today OPP are mostly attending regular primary schools. This way of schooling is demanding for teachers, as teaching needs to be adapted to all the specifics of children.
The purpose of the master's thesis was to examine the attitudes of primary school teachers towards the inclusion of OPP in regular primary schools, and the fears that teachers face in this inclusion. We wanted to study in more detail whether teachers' views on the inclusion of OPP in regular primary schools and the fears associated with this inclusion differ according to the stages of teachers’ professional development. The study included 126 primary school teachers who taught in the first and second educational period in various primary schools in Slovenia. Data was collected via a questionnaire which was adapted from the already developed questionnaire for determining the attitudes and fears of teachers in the field of inclusion of OPP groups in primary schools (Kokić, 2018). We also conducted semi-structured interviews with five primary school teachers at different stages of professional development, in which we asked them about their knowledge of OPP groups and ways of working with OPP, about the factors that hinder the integration of OPP into regular primary school, and the teachers’ experiences and fears in working with the OPP.
The analysis of the results of the questionnaires and interviews showed that teachers agree the least with the inclusion of children with intellectual disabilities in regular primary schools, and agree most with the inclusion of children with a cronic illness in regular primary schools. Teachers feel the least professionally qualified to work with children with intellectual disabilities, and the most professionally qualified to work with children with disabilities in individual areas of learning. Teachers stated that they adapt individual ways of teaching OPP relatively often, e.g., giving children extended time for school tasks. Two thirds of teachers stated that they face various difficulties in integrating OPP into the class, such as lack of sufficient support, poor knowledge of the characteristics of individual OPP groups and ways of working with them, and non-participation of parents in working with OPP. The results showed that teachers are quite afraid of working with OPP, and among all OPP groups, they are most afraid of working with children with intellectual disabilities, and the least afraid of working with children with disabilities in individual areas of learning. The attitudes towards the inclusion of OPP in regular primary schools, as well as the fears the teachers experience when working with OPP, differ slightly for teachers who are at different stages of professional development. For example, compared to teachers in other stages of professional development, the teachers who were in the second phase of professional development had the most positive attitude towards the inclusion of children with intellectual disabilities in regular primary schools. Some differences between teachers in different stages of professional development were also visible in the self-assessment of professional competence to work with children with speech and language disorders, in two ways of adapting work with OPP (extended time for school tasks and use of alternative teaching methods), in experiencing fear in working with children with autistic disorders and in the event that the teacher's work with the OPP would be more closely monitored by the principal. The research found that the attitudes and fears of primary school teachers towards the inclusion of OPP in regular primary schools are related to an individual group of OPP. Their attitudes and fears towards individual groups of OPP depend mainly on the personal characteristics of teachers, their experience and professional competence to work with OPP. That is why it is important for teachers to have properly formed attitudes towards the OPP, as well as enough knowledge and skills to be able to do quality work with them.
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