Inclusion is based on the belief that every child has the right to learn in an environment that best supports their development, learning, and social integration. The inclusion of students with special educational needs in regular primary schools is a process that requires support and adjustments for the student, as well as the willingness of teachers to cooperate, since teachers' attitudes indicate the success of integrating students with special educational needs into the school environment. In Slovenia, in recent years, classes with an adapted programme with a lower educational standard have increasingly been introduced in regular primary schools, creating a need to research teachers' attitudes towards this.
In my master’s thesis, I examined teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusion of classes from the adapted programme with lower educational standards into mainstream primary schools among 161 teachers in Slovenia. The main purpose of the study was to determine whether differences in attitudes exist among three groups of teachers: those working in mainstream primary schools without such classes; those working in mainstream primary schools where such classes are present but who do not teach them; and those who teach these classes in primary schools delivering adapted educational programmes. For the research, I developed a survey questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale to measure teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusion of these classes into mainstream primary schools. The collected data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics, applying descriptive statistics and non-parametric statistical tests.
The findings are consistent with international and Slovenian research emphasising that teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion are closely related to professional support, training, and experience in working with students with special educational needs. The results showed that teachers who teach classes from the adapted programme with lower educational standards differ statistically significantly from teachers working in mainstream primary schools, both those without such classes and those with such classes but not teaching them, in the factors of perceived professional competence for working with these students and professional engagement in inclusion, where they achieved higher values. However, no statistically significant differences were found between the groups regarding pro-inclusive orientation and social climate, as well as perceived systemic and organisational working conditions. The analysis of the impact of teachers’ years of service did not reveal statistically significant differences in most factors; a significant difference was identified only in the perception of systemic and organisational working conditions among teachers teaching classes from the adapted programme with lower educational standards.
The findings therefore highlight the importance of professional competence, experience, and systemic support in shaping teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusion of classes from the adapted programme with lower educational standards into mainstream primary schools. The results contribute to a better understanding of the factors influencing teachers’ attitudes and may support the development of effective strategies for strengthening inclusive practices within mainstream primary education.
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