Towards inclusion in early childhood education : personal and environmental factors associated with teachers’ resistance

Inclusive classrooms are being advocated for internationally, with positive teacher attitudes identified as a key ingredient for seeding success. For successful implementation of inclusive education in early childhood education, it is crucial to understand potential resistance from teachers and the personal and environmental factors that are associated with such resistance. A survey of early childhood teachers in Hong Kong (N = 403) examined teachers’ personal factors including knowledge of policy, self-efficacy, professional development, experience and professional role; and environmental factors including their school’s adapted curriculum, teamwork, and provision of resources, together with the support available from the government and attitudes of stakeholders. Using confirmatory factor analysis, crucial personal factors that are likely to alleviate resistance were higher self-efficacy, professional development and to a lesser extent higher professional roles. Crucial environmental factors were the school’s advocacy of an adapted curriculum and provision of relevant resources, together with positive attitudes of stakeholders. The findings point to the importance of both personal professional development and a favorable and supportive environment for early childhood teachers to embrace inclusion

Inclusion of children with special needs in early childhood education : what teacher characteristics matter

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

The big-fish-little-pond effect in China

Recent research has distinguished between the components of competency and affect in students' academic self-concept. The competency component operates on the basis of a comparison with peers. This comparison may lead to a big-fish-little-pond (BFLP) effect. To investigate the sustainability of the BFLP effect, a sample of 7th graders from 6 classes in a high school in China was surveyed on both the competency and affect components of school self-concept (N = 295) at the beginning, in the middle and by the end of grade 7 and compared across 4 groups categorised according to their high school entrance exam scores. Analysis of variance results showed that the highest scoring students had the highest self-concept of competency and the scores remained high throughout the year of 7th grade. In essence, the "big fish" remained big and the "small fish" remained small, and the pattern was consistent over time. The scores for the component of affect did not differ across groups, became slightly higher in mid-year, and remained high throughout the year. Instead of attempting to promote a positive affect in schooling, there seems to be a stronger need for enhancing a sense of competency in the "smaller fish"

Special education teachers of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and teachers in inclusive and regular classrooms : differential views toward inclusive education

The purpose of the research reported here is to examine the views of different types of teachers toward inclusion, and whether their teaching experience matters in formulating such views. The importance of the study is bolstered as it centers on the underresearched context of preprimary settings in Hong Kong

What predicts teachers' acceptance of students with special educational needs in kindergarten?

Despite attempts of educators and policy makers in promoting inclusive education through training and provision of extra resources, it remains unclear what is the most influential factor that may reduce teachers' resistance to and increase their advocacy o f inclusive education. Teachers who have been trained in special education are usually expected to be more accepting of inclusive education. With training, kindergarten teachers would probably be more positive about placing students with special educational needs in regular settings with students without special educational needs. Trained kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong (N = 275, all female) were surveyed on three factors (their knowledge about policies regarding inclusive education, efficacy in teaching in inclusive settings, and government initiatives) that might influence two outcomes of advocacy (their resistance to inclusive education or endorsement of the inclusion of students with special educational needs). Confirmatory factor analysis defined the five distinct factors. Structural equation modelling found that of the three predictors, teachers' sense of efficacy was the strongest predictor of both advocacy outcomes. The findings imply that increasing teachers' knowledge through training or providing teachers with more resources may not be sufficient to increase teachers' advocacy of inclusive education. Instead, to better promote inclusive education, teacher education and governmental support should focus more on building teachers' efficacy in inclusive settings