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Creating an Inclusive Classroom

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Creating an Inclusive Classroom AY 2017 CREATING AN INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM: COUNTRY CASE STUDIES ANALYSIS ON MAINSTREAM TEACHERS’ TEACHING-EFFICACY AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN JAPAN AND SINGAPORE A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ADRIAN YAP YEI MIAN Major in Policy Analysis of Comparative and 4014S316-1 International Education GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ASIA AND PACIFIC STUDIES WASEDA UNIVERSITY PROF. LIU-FARRER GRACIA C.E. PROF. KURODA, KAZUO D.E. PROF. KATSUMA YASUSHI PROF. TARUMI YUKO KEYWORDS TEACHING-EFFICACY, ATTITUDES, JAPAN, SINGAPORE, SPECIAL EDUCATION, INCLUSIVE EDUCATION, THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR, THEORY OF SELF-EFFICACY, MIXED-METHODS, DISABILITIES i ABSTRACT “Creating an inclusive classroom” is no easy feat for education policy-makers and school educators to include students with special educational needs in the regular school settings. How we want to idealise our schools to become an inclusive educational institution depends on how the school leaders, educators and policy-makers put in their measures to realise inclusivity at schools. For the past few decades, inclusive education was often pushed to the forefront of educational agenda and it became a frequently talked-about topic at educational conferences. Past research indicated that teachers’ teaching-efficacy and attitudes created significant impacts on their teaching competence and students’ achievements (Avramidis, Bayliss & Burden, 2000; Scruggs & Mastropieri, 1996; Soodak & Podell, 1994; Wilczenski, 1992). This dissertation focusses on two country case studies in Japan and Singapore. The study employed a sequential mixed method design starting with the quantitative research followed by qualitative phase: Phase 1, a questionnaire-type research and Phase 2, a semi-structured interview research. This aims to identify several key research questions. What are the important child-related, teacher-related and environment-related variables that affect their teaching-efficacy and attitudes towards their students and why these particular factors produce the outcomes? Further this also seeks to explore the relationship between teachers’ teaching-efficacy and attitudes and to identify what kind of teaching-efficacy could best result in their positive attitudes towards students with special needs. Lastly, the study examines how different contexts e.g. political, social, economic and cultural contexts affect the outcomes regarding the implementation of inclusive education (Kozleski, et al., 2007). This conceptual framework is depicted in Figure i. Figure i: Conceptual Framework Country contexts Political, Social, Culture, Teaching-efficacy Economic Variables Child-related, Teacher-related, Environment-related Attitudes Source: Created by author In summary, this study investigates Japanese and Singaporean mainstream teachers’ teaching-efficacy and attitudes towards the inclusion of students with special needs in the regular classrooms based on these four main overarching questions: 1) Teaching-efficacy 1.1. What is the level of in-service teachers’ perceived teaching efficacy towards inclusion of students with special needs in two countries? 1.2. Is there any significant relationship between teaching efficacy and child-related, teacher-related and environment-related factors? 1.3: How do selected factors from Question 1.2 explain their teaching efficacy towards the inclusion of students with special needs? ii 2) Attitudes 2.1: What is the level of in-service teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of students with special needs in two countries? 2.2: Is there any significant relationship between teacher’s attitudes and child-related, teacher-related and environment-related factors? 2.3: How do selected factors from Question 2.2 explain their attitudes towards the inclusion of students with special needs? 3) Relationships between teaching-efficacy and attitudes 3.1: How does their teaching-efficacy correlate with their attitudes towards the inclusion of students with special needs? 3.2: Which type of teaching-efficacy is the best predicator of teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education? 4) Teachers’ challenges and strategies in inclusive education 4.1: What are the challenges they face including students with special needs in their inclusive classrooms? 4.2: How do they strategize to address their challenges in implementing inclusive class practices? In Phase 1, a three-part questionnaire instrument was rolled out to 189 Japanese and 183 Singaporean mainstream teachers and this included three sections: demographic profiles of teachers, the Sentiments, Attitudes, Concerns regarding Inclusive Education (SACIE-R) scale to measure the level of attitudes and the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices (TEIP) scale that measured their teaching-efficacy of mainstream teachers. In the succeeding phase, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 38 Japanese and 15 Singaporean teachers who also participated in their earlier questionnaire researches. The objective of this narrative research was to follow up on the quantitative findings and to further explore their self-beliefs and perspectives about inclusion of students with special needs in their mainstream classrooms. Through conducting the sequential mixed method study, the potential of this research to act as quantitative and qualitative lens to further understand teachers’ behaviours and concerns about their students has been empirically and narratively documented. The major findings are discussed below as follows: 1. Empirical findings suggested that Japanese teachers had slightly above-average teaching-efficacy and relatively neutral attitudes towards students with special needs. Japanese teachers’ prior experiences with students with special needs, presence of their disabled family members, geographical locations in Japan, knowledge about policy and legislation related to inclusive education and confidence level to teach students with special needs had significant influences on their teaching-efficacy and attitudes. 2. In Singapore, teachers possessed quite high sense of teaching-efficacy; however their attitudes were relatively neutral towards them. Gender, educational levels, knowledge about local policy and legislation and training had significant impact on their teaching-efficacy and attitudes. 3. Singaporean and Japanese in-service teachers’ teaching-efficacy were found to be positively correlated with their attitudes towards inclusive education which coincided with the previous studies. 4. In Japan, experienced teachers with prior experiences in teaching students with special needs were better advantaged due to their accumulation of mastery and vicarious experiences. Teachers with disabled family members had more positive attitudes towards students with special needs. iii 5. In Singapore, male teachers were found to have higher teaching-efficacy than female due to the local contextual factors and their stronger physical traits to handle children with behavioural problems. Another finding showed that secondary school teachers and teachers who attended in-service special needs education trainings displayed more positive attitudes than primary school teachers and teachers who did not attend any in-service training. 6. Lastly, Japanese and Singaporean teachers shared different problems about including their students; their concerns cited ranged from concerns about academic performances, school bullying, lack of teacher training, large class size to lack of specialized manpower and support for their students. 7. They also identified different kind strategies to address these challenges to better include their students. For example, their strategies included modification of their teaching pedagogies to match their learning needs, better collaboration with teachers and parents, to name a few. These frontier findings provide invaluable insights into Japanese and Singaporean mainstream teachers’ attitudes and teaching-efficacy for inclusive class practices. Implications for policy and practice are also discussed; recommendations for better need to balance evidence-based training and practical trainings, affirmation of stronger collaboration between general and special needs teachers to better share resources and expertise and strong legal protection for students with special needs to safeguard their rights to inclusive education. These findings are salient as they could provide useful insights for the Ministry of Education in two countries, school leaders, and other stakeholders to better support the inclusion of students with special needs in the mainstream schools at both on-the-ground and policy levels. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS KEYWORDS ...................................................................................................................... I ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... II TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... V LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... IX LIST OF ACROYMNS ...................................................................................................... X LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ XI DEDICATION ...............................................................................................................
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