Inclusion of Children With Special Needs in Early Childhood Education: What Teacher Characteristics Matter. (August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lee, Frances Lai Mui; Yeung, Alexander Seeshing; Tracey, Danielle; Barker, Katrina
• Is Part Of: Topics in early childhood special education. Volume 35:Number 2(2015:Aug.)
• Page Start: 79
• Page End: 88
• Publication Date: 2015-08
• Subjects: inclusive education -- early childhood education -- teacher characteristics -- special needs; Children with disabilities -- Education (Preschool) -- Periodicals; Child Development -- Periodicals; Education, Special -- Periodicals; Enfants handicapés -- Enseignement préscolaire -- Périodiques; Éducation précoce; Éducation préscolaire; Éducation spéciale; Enfant handicapé; Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 371.905
• DOI: 10.1177/0271121414566014
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0271-1214

Abstract

Whereas the inclusion of children with special needs in regular classrooms has gained increasing advocacy, teachers' attitudes vary. Previous studies examining teacher attitudes have focused on primary and secondary schools in the Western world, and little is known about early childhood settings in Eastern countries. This study used MANOVA to examine preschool teachers' attitudes in Hong Kong ( N = 410). Teachers reported only modest support for inclusion. Teachers with training in special education were stronger advocates of inclusion, irrespective of their professional roles (administrator or class teacher), for children with intellectual disability, or visual, hearing, and speech and language impairments. However, neither teacher training nor professional role made a significance difference to teachers' support of including children with physical disability, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), specific learning difficulty, and the gifted and talented. Implications for practice and further research are explored.