Initiatives to embrace inclusive education : teachers' attitudes towards the inclusion of learners with special needs into regular schools in two districts in Kenya

Abstract

A b s t r a c t The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of teachers towards the inclusion of learners with special needs in education into regular schools in Kenya in relation to no training or training in special needs education. It goes further to establish whether there is a difference in the attitudes of teachers in relation to the specialization and inclusive modes of teacher training in special needs education. The study also looks briefly at teachers attitudes in relation to gender differences, teaching experience, differences in urban and rural settings and in school and class size. This study involved 186 teachers in schools with programmes for children with special needs and in special schools to obtain opinions using a Likert scaled questionnaire. The study also interviewed four head teachers of schools with programmes for learners with special needs and two education officers at the Ministry of Education headquarters. The schools selected were in urban and rural settings. The findings were analyzed using the Statistical Programme for Social Sciences (SPSS) and generally indicated a high statistical significant difference in attitudes towards inclusion of learners with special needs into regular schools between teachers with no training and those trained in special needs. Teachers trained in special needs education were more positively inclined to inclusive education. The results also indicated a no statistical significant difference in opinion on attitudes towards inclusion between teachers trained in the specialization and those trained in the inclusive model although those trained in the specialization mode were less positive. The results indicated that training and practice in special needs education are important factors in the development of positive attitudes towards inclusion. There was little or no statistical significant difference in attitude formation in relation to gender, to location of school (urban and rural), class size and school size. The main barriers to the implementation of inclusive education in Kenya is lack of a clear policy on inclusive education, lack of collaboration and integration between teachers trained in special needs education with regular teachers, lack of integration between special and regular education and the non-domestication of the universal declarations on inclusive education.