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Attitudes of Teachers Towards Inclusive Education in Finland

Authors:	Timo Saloviita

Institution:	1. Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyvaskyla, Jyvaskyla, Finlandtimo.saloviita@jyu.fihttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6723-3675

Abstract:	ABSTRACT Positive teacher attitudes are essential for success when children with special educational needs (SEN) are placed into mainstream classrooms. The present study surveyed teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion by using a large national sample and Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusion Scale (TAIS). A total of 1,764 Finnish basic-school teachers participated in the e-mail survey. They included 824 classroom teachers, 575 subject teachers and 365 special-education teachers. The classroom teachers scored below and the subject teachers significantly below, the neutral midpoint of the scale. The special-education teachers’ mean scores were above the midpoint. About 20% of teachers were strong opponents of inclusion, and 8% were strong advocates. The attitudes towards inclusion had only weak associations with variables other than the teacher category. Teachers’ work orientation and self-efficacy had low associations with their attitudes towards inclusion. The results illustrate the attitudinal climate of teachers towards inclusion and indicate the existing potential for policy change.

Keywords:	Inclusive education teacher attitudes Finland self-efficacy work orientation survey special education disability