ERIC Number: EJ1085386
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Jan
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1694-609X
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Inclusive Education Reform in Bangladesh: Pre-Service Teachers' Responses to Include Students with Special Educational Needs in Regular Classrooms
Malak, Md. Saiful
International Journal of Instruction, v6 n1 p195-214 Jan 2013
Inclusive education (IE) has been recognized as a key strategy to ensure education for all in the developing world for the last two decades. As a developing country, Bangladesh is striving to address IE by undergoing various initiatives such as policy reform, awareness creation and teacher development. This paper based on a qualitative approach attempts to explore pre-service teachers' responses to include students with special educational needs (SEN) in regular classrooms in primary schools. A one-on-one interview was conducted with 20 pre-service teachers who were enrolled in a teacher education program of one public university in Bangladesh. The findings revealed from the study indicate that majority of the preservice teachers have unfavourable attitudes to include students with SEN in regular classrooms. Misconception and lack of knowledge about disabilities are revealed from most of the pre-service teachers' responses. Further large class size, high workloads, inflexible curriculum policy of primary education and inadequate experiential learning facilities of teacher education program are identified as barriers to IE reform. Several issues are discussed as implications in order to promote better inclusive practices in regular primary education.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Disabilities, Inclusion, Preservice Teacher Education, Teacher Education Programs, Educational Change, Class Size, Change Strategies, Academic Accommodations (Disabilities), Special Needs Students, Interviews, Student Teacher Attitudes, Attitudes toward Disabilities, Educational Practices, Teaching Conditions, Teaching Load, Peer Acceptance, Professional Development, Self Efficacy, Teacher Collaboration, Barriers, Performance Factors, Qualitative Research
International Journal of Instruction. Usak University, College of Education, Ankara Izmir Yolu, 1 Eylul Kampusu, Usak, 64200, Turkey. Tel: +90-5357355455; e-mail: iji@ogu.edu.tr; Web site: http://www.e-iji.net
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Bangladesh
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A