This document summarizes a presentation on examining teacher attitudes towards educating students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms. It begins by defining attitudes and presenting a model of attitudes that includes cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. It then discusses research showing teachers often have neutral attitudes initially but these can be positively influenced by factors like exposure to students with disabilities, training, and experience with inclusive practices. The presentation emphasizes the importance of inclusive education and changing attitudes to improve outcomes for all students through supports like collaborative teaching models and professional development on evidence-based strategies.

1. Examination of Teacher Attitudes
Towards Education of Students with
Disability in the Mainstream Classroom
International Exhibition and Forum for Education
Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center,
Saudi Arabia
3-6 February, 2014
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
& SOCIAL WORK
David Evans PhD | Associate Professor of Special Education
david.evans@sydney.edu.au

2. Thank you very much!!
› Ministry of Education, Saudi Arabia
› My colleagues:
- Dr Ilektra Spandagou
- Mrs Cathy Little
› The teachers from whom I learn so much:
- Muhmoud Muhanna, Nora Alharthi
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3. Aims
› Examine the concept of attitudes
› Examine and interrogate attitudes with regards to the
education of students with disability
› Highlight the implications for changing attitudes, and
educational outcomes for all students
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4. An Attitude …
› … represents an evaluative integration of cognitions and
affects experienced in relation to an object. Attitudes are
the evaluative judgments that integrate and summarize
these cognitive/affective reactions. These evaluative
abstraction vary in strength, which in turn has
implications for persistence, resistance, and attitudebehavior consistency (Crano & Prislin, 2006, p. 347)
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5. Object – my attitude?
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6. Object - attitude?
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7. Object – Attitude?
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8. Model of Attitudes
Cognitive
Component
Attitudes
Affective
Component
Behavioural
Component
(De Boer et al., 2011)
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9. What does a teacher think when they hear?
“I have just enrolled in your class, a student with a diagnosis of:
- ADHD
- Hearing impairment
- Autism
- Behaviour disorder
- Intellectual disability
- Mental health disorder
- Prader-Willi Syndrome
- Hypomelanosis of ito
- Down syndrome
- Dyslexia
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10. Model of Attitudes
Cognitive Component
Attitudes
Current context:
We are catering for more students
with these diagnoses in our
regular classrooms – inclusive
education.
Affective Component
Behavioural Component
(De Boer et al., 2011)
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11. Historical Reminders
› Salamanca Statement
- …. every child has a fundamental right to education … (p. viii)
- … regular schools with this inclusive orientation are the most
effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes. (p. ix)
› Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability
- States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to
education.
- States Parties shall ensure that: Persons with disabilities are not
excluded from the general education system on the basis of
disability … (Article 24)
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12. Inclusion
› “… the process of educating children with disabilities in
the regular education classrooms of their neighbourhood
schools – the schools they would attend if they did not
have a disability – and providing them with the necessary
services and support” [Rafftery, Boettcher & Griffin, 2001, p.266]
› “Inclusion starts in our minds and hearts …”
[Kasinskaite
Buddeberg, 2014]
› Inclusive education … an operationalisation of the concept of
inclusion … people are signficant factor in this process … but we can
be one of a number of barriers that impact the quality of education
outcomes for all students
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13. Convention the Rights of Persons with Disability
Further …
› Recognizing that disability is an evolving concept and
that disability results from the interaction between
persons with impairments and attitudinal and
environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective
participation in society on an equal basis with others.
› Consider features of our environment:
- Building structures
- Information and Communication Technologies
- Web access
- School curriculum and environment
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14. Key Players in Inclusive Education
› Teachers
› Administrators
› Learning support personnel
› Students
- Students with disabilities
- Students without disability
› Families and community
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15. Attitudes of Youth/Students
› Key features in development of attitudes in youth:
- influence of “exposure”
- “… mere exposure research outlines the ways through
which attitudes can form due to affect alone, without
reliance on cognition regarding an objects attributes.”
[Olson & Kendrick, 2008, p. 116-7]
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16. Model of Youth Attitudes
Perceived
Capability
Family
Member
Friend
Exposure
Behavioural
Intentions:
School
Know in
School
Gender
(Female)
Academic
Inclusion
Impact of
Inclusion
Nonacademic
Inclusion
[Siperstein et al., 2007, p.437]

17. Attitudes of Youth/Students
› Key features in development of attitudes in youth:
- influence of “exposure”
- perceived capacity
- non-academic inclusion
- academic inclusion
- influence of the school setting
› Evidence-based practices
- Early intervention
- Peer support and peer tutoring
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18. Family and Community
› Key partners in the education of all students; especially
students with disability and special needs
› Parents and families need to work hard to support the
needs of their child with a disability
› Have things changed?
- “I mean … it was hard going, but it was worth it.”
[Mother of a 40 year
old women with an moderate intellectual disability; Strnadova & Evans, 2013]
- Parents of young children with hearing impairments feel
“abandoned”, “isolation” and “disconnected from their child”
[mothers
of infants with hearing impairments; Landrigan & Evans, in prep]
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19. Learning Support Personnel
› Special education teachers: dramatic shift in their roles
- Active role in working in the classroom
- Less of a role taking students out of the classroom
› Teaching assistants: their role under scrutiny
- Voice of students indicate they do not want them
- Cost benefit is being questioned
- … yet, teachers are very dependent on them to deliver
education programs
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20. School Leaders
› Leadership role is critical to successful educational
outcomes
- Leaders of pedagogy
- Modeling a positive attitude and setting of high expectations
- Establishing school wide processes to cater for student diversity
- Building inclusive environments, resourcing, assessment and
monitoring of student progress
› Evidence-based practice
- Three tier model to supporting intervention
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21. Continuum of Assessment and Intervention
Tier 3 [5%] Intensive
Individualised Intervention with Frequent
Progress Monitoring
Tier 2 [15%] Targeted
Small group Intervention with
Progress Monitoring
Tier 1 [80%] Universal
Evidence-based Curriculum
and Screening [3 time/year]
[Riley-Tillman & Burn, 2009, p.9]

22. Attitudes of Teachers: Australia
› Teacher preparation in Australia
- All teachers undertake an initial degree to work in
regular education classrooms
- All pre-service teachers complete a mandatory unit of study in
special and inclusive education
› Special education teachers in Australia are required to
have a pre-service degree in regular education
- This is not the case in all education sectors
internationally
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23. Attitudes of Teachers: Australia
› Attitudes of pre-service teachers at the University of
Sydney
- Pre-service teachers attitudes can be enhanced through
a mandatory unit of study (Spandagou, Little & Evans, 2009)
- Little is known about what happens in the first years (e.g.,
in-school support, ongoing professional learning)
› Neutral attitudes of teachers: concerns about resourcing,
professional knowledge (Westwood & Graham, 2003)
› Short term effects of special education retraining programs
- Washout effect in regards to attitudes and practice (SmythKing, 2014)
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24. Attitudes of Teachers: Regional
› Key findings: Jordan (Muhanna, 2012)
- Teachers surveyed on their attitudes towards educating
students with autism in regular education primary
schools (reg educ: 120; spec educ: 120)
- Neutral attitudes across teacher training, experience,
and gender
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25. Attitudes of Teachers: Local
› Key findings: Saudi Arabia (Alharthi, 2014)
- Survey of middle school regular and special education
teachers attitudes to inclusion to inclusion of stduents
with lerning disability in the regular classroom; specific
focus on the role of collaboration
- Initial results indicate:
- special education teachers general atttitudes were positive
- regular education teachers genereal attitudes neutral
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26. Teacher Attitudes
› Key findings: Saudi Arabia (Alharthi, 2014)
› Qualitative responses:
› "I prefer to work with normal students and special ed. teachers work
with those students separately”
[regular education teacher]
› “… as a special educator it is hard to teach students with LDs in
middle schools or support them to access the curriculum because
we are not experts in math or Arabic language.” [special education
teacher]
› “… general ed. teachers have enough work … we do not need more
work!” [regular education teacher]
› “… courses and workshops about collaboration and effective
teaching strategies for students with LDs …” [special education teacher]
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27. Model of Attitudes: Reflection
Cognitive Component:
[e.g., teacher knowledge]
Attitudes
Affective Component:
[e.g., exposure]
Behavioural Component:
[e.g., engagement]
(De Boer et al., 2011)
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28. Changing Attitudes
› Teachers are heavily socialised by their experiences
- Changing teacher attitudes requires a concerted effort by all
- Teachers hold high expectations for all students
› Building professional knowledge and understanding
- Education planning built on educational, social and personalised
need; access to the regular school curriculum
- Promoting and supporting use of evidence-based practices
- Flexible planning, resourcing, pedagogies and assessment (e.g.,
universal design for learning, use of ICT’s)
› Development and modelling of exemplar inclusive
educational practices relevant to contexts
- Increase exposure to educational exemplars (e.g., highly proficient
teachers, use of web-based exemplars, personalised learning)
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29. Changing Attitudes
› Address teacher training
- Special education teachers need to be knowledgeable of regular
education curriculum and practices
- Regular education teachers need access to knowledge of practices
that promote access for all students
› Research with schools and teachers highlighting the
benefits of inclusive education outcomes for all
- Reported in a number of formats relevant to the consumer
- Highlight evidence-based practices
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30. Final Word
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