Chapter 11

Trends and Issues in

Teaching Learners with
Difficulty
Walking and
Moving
Teacher's Beliefs,
Attitudes, and Values
Toward Inclusion of
Learners with Pysical
Disability
• The belief's, attitudes, and values of teachers
and other school staff toward inclusion of
learners with physical disability are important
as they shape how they teach and respond
toward these learners.
• The development and innovation of education
of learners with physical disability
imperatively requires corresponding change in
teacher's beliefs and attitudes.
Factors that shape teacher's beliefs and
attitudes:
01 Personal experiences

02 Environment of the school

03 Community

04 Culture
Integration of Children with Physical Disabilities:

01 Locational Integration
They can be placed on the same site but kept
separate.
02 Social Integration
They can be mixed at social times (e.g.,
during mealtimes).

03 Academic Integration
They can be placed in the same classes as
their peers.
The development of inclusion has put into action the
following principles: (Fox, 2015)

01 All children attend the school to which they

would go if they had no disabilities.

02 A natural proportion of children with disabilities

occurs at any school.
03 No child should be excluded on the basis of a
disability.

04 School and general education placements are

age-appropriate, with no self-contained special
educational classes operating on the school site.
05 Cooperative learning and peer teaching methods
receive significant use in general teaching
practice at the school.

06 Special educational support teachers and teaching

asistants are provided witin the context of the
general educational class and other inclusive
environments.
The attitudes and beliefs of
teachers play a very important role
on whether inclusion would be
implemented successfully.
The Teacher Inclusion
Attitudes Questionnaire

A checklist adapted from Siderites

and Chandler to measure the
attitude of teachers toward inclusion
• In a study by Jerlinder, Danermark, and Gill
(2010), the insights of physical education (P.E.)
teachers' general attitudes toward inclusion and
inclusive practices in the general school
curriculum were examined in order to-
have a glimpse of how they view inclusion,
especially for learners with physical disabilities
in mainstream P.E. classes.
Identified predictors of positive attitude
towards inclusion:
01 Having adequate training

02 Having general school support

from management and staff

03 Demands on resources
Parent's Experience of
Enabling Participation
of their Children with
Physical Disability
• The goal of inclusive education is to enable the
participation of learners with disabilities, gifts,
and talents not only in school but in the wider
context of home and community; and parents
play a very important role, in it too.
• A study by Pilskur and colleagues (2016) looked
at the role of parents in terms of their
participation in various context, including
school, home and community.
Parent's Major Concerns Include:

01 Systems, laws, and regulations

02 Experiences and thoughts about the pysical

and/or social environment

03 Experiences and feelings of finding and/or

enabling an activity
These results imply that inclusive
education goes beyond the school,
and that parents must be
encouraged to increase their
involvement when it comes to
inclusive education of their children
with disabilities.
Promoting Positive
Social Interactions
Between Children With
and Without Physical
Disabilities in School
• Although, inclusive education intends to
integrate and promote social interactions
between with and without disabilities, children
with disabilities may still feel socially isolated.
• "Kids are Kids" is a program designed by
Tavares (2011) which intends to develop
positive impact on attitudes of children towards
learners with disabilities, and thus, promote
social inclusion.
 "Kids are Kids" Program:

01 The program was developed for children from

Grades 1 to 8 who are experiencing difficulties in
school. The program wsa designed to be flexible
enough to meet the individual needs of each
child.
02 The target child (learner with physical disability)
is chosen through input from parents, child, and
teacher. The presentation starts with sharing of
the classmates about what they know about the
learner with disability (e.g., what the
 learner is good at). The presenters (e.g.,
education consultant) seek to discover
commonalities between the students and peer
with disabilities.

03 Students are shown slides with statements such as

"Children are similar in some ways." "All
children want to have
friends." "Children with disabilities can do all
sorts of things." The slides are discussed in class
while the classmates are encouraged to share
their thoughts about these statements. The goal is
to make the class realize that they are more
similar with than different from their classmate
with disability.
04 A brief video is shown, highlighting children
with disabilities interacting with other children
and engaging in different social and recreational
activities.

05 After watching the video, specific information

about the child's disability
is provided and classmates are encouraged to ask
questions. Other activities such as problem
solving and role-playing on how they might
approach teir classmate wit disability are done.
• The program was found to be effective in
promoting positive attitudes of children toward
their peers with disabilities immediately after
program. The positive attitude of the class
remained and social inclusion increased even a
month after the program. (Tavares, 2011)
Thank you so
much for
listening!