The Attitudes of Greek Special and General Education Teachers toward Inclusion and their Self-efficacy in the Implementation of Inclusive Education in Secondary Education. The Effect on the Collaboration with Parents of Children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities

Abstract

In recent years, the separation between general education and special education has been slowly diminishing as they become an integrated single system. Teachers' attitudes and perceptions can completely change the climate of a classroom, as they have a great impact on the behavior of the students during the learning process. In an inclusive school, it seems clear that teachers' views on their self-efficacy have also changed, as have their roles and the conditions of their pedagogical profile.Current research aims to investigate the effect of self-efficacy of general and special secondary education teachers at Greek high schools in implementing inclusive practices on attitudes towards inclusion, as well as the effect of self-efficacy and attitudes towards inclusion on the collaboration of teachers with parents of children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). In addition, differences between general and special education teachers regarding the sense of self-efficacy in implementing inclusive practices and the formation of perceptions about attitudes and collaboration are examined, as are the effects of training and demographic profile on the above parameters.Current research is primary, quantitative, and correlational, between and within subjects, in a non-experimental design, using questionnaires of acceptable reliability (a¿0,605) and validity. In the current research, 265 teachers participated, almost equally distributed between general (N = 131) or special education (N = 134) and permanent (N = 120) or deputy (N = 144) employment status, mainly teaching in Central Greece, Attica, Central Macedonia, and the Southern Aegean, with the specialty of philologist, science teacher, or mathematician. Most of them have training in special education, are female, older than 35 years old, and have 0¿5 years of teaching experience in special education. At a significance level of 5%, the independent samples t-test, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and multiple linear regression models were used. The necessary ethical issues were confirmed.Teachers who were highly effective at collaborating demonstrated more positive attitudes toward inclusion. The efficacy of general education teachers to use inclusive instructions as well as the efficacy of special education teachers to deal with disruptive behaviors enhanced the attitudes toward inclusion. Teachers of special education, as well as teachers with special education training and teachers that have attended a course or seminar on the education of students with SEND, present self-efficacy to implement inclusive practices, formulate perceptions about attitudes, and collaborate with parents of students. Teachers¿ efficacy to collaborate increased the levels of collaboration with parents of students with SEND. General teachers¿ efficacy to use inclusive instructions and a positive attitude toward logistical concerns led to increased levels of collaboration. Special teachers¿ inclusive attitudes improved levels of collaboration with the parents, while females and younger teachers supported more inclusive attitudes, while middle-aged teachers had higher levels of collaboration. Teachers' having children with SEND at home presented higher efficacy in dealing with disruptive behaviors. Deputy teachers presented more inclusive attitudes and better collaboration for teaching but cited more personal reasons as obstacles to cooperation. Teachers with more experience in special education indicated higher efficacy in implementing inclusive practices, while teachers with moderate experience displayed higher inclusive attitudes and collaboration. Collaboration at all levels is facilitated not just by teachers' abilities and understanding of inclusive methods but also by their increased self-efficacy and positive attitudes about inclusion. In Greece, insufficient studies have been conducted on the issue of collaboration with parents; therefore, there is an obvious need to investigate strategies to improve teacher-parent collaboration, particularly in special education.