Perspectives of Secondary Educators on the Inclusion of Students Who Are Disabled: Perceived Barriers, Facilitators, and Crucial Components

Disability is often perceived as a rare phenomenon that only affects a small number of people (Dewsbury, Clarke, Randall, Rouncefield, & Sommerville, 2004), despite the fact that 12% of the U.S. public schools student population receives special education services (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016) that remove them from the general education setting. This state of affairs contradicts the mandates of IDEA (Ginsburg & Rapp, 2013) and perpetuates the idea that it is acceptable to ostracize those who are born different (Waldschmidt, 2015). This qualitative study reported the findings from 16 interviews with secondary educators from Southern California regarding the inclusion of students who are disabled in the general education setting. An analysis of these interviews showed that the participants’ views of disability adhered to either the medical or social model of disability, and influenced what they perceived as barriers to, or facilitators of, inclusion. The findings also showed that the participants felt three major components were necessary for the successful implementation of inclusion: (positive) teacher perspectives, a campus culture that fosters inclusion, and administrative leadership. Implications for this study include: (a) the use of a disability studies framework throughout administration and teacher training programs; and (b) the hiring of employees who reflect the student population, such as people with disabilities