Teachers' attitudes about the inclusion of students with disabilities in regular primary schools

Danas je prepoznata važnost inkluzije učenika s teškoćama u sustav redovitog odgoja i obrazovanja, a veliku ulogu u tom procesu imaju učitelji koji neposredno rade s učenicima. Ključnu ulogu, posebice, ima njihov stav prema inkluzivnom obrazovanju jer o njemu u velikoj mjeri ovisi i kvaliteta istog. Cilj ovog diplomskog rada bio je istražiti stavove učitelja prema inkluziji učenika s teškoćama u redovite osnovne škole te njihove kompetencije za inkluzivnu praksu. U empirijskom dijelu rada korištena je kvantitativna metodologija, a za obradu podataka korišten je program SPSS Statistics. U istraživanju je sudjelovala 51 učiteljica (N=51) iz šest osnovnih škola. Rezultati dobiveni ovim istraživanjem ukazuju na to da je potrebno veći naglasak staviti na razvijanju inkluzivne kulture škole s obzirom da učitelji iznenađujuće ne smatraju inkluziju korisnom te misle da je bolje da učenici s teškoćama polaze specijalizirane škole. S druge strane, učitelji se smatraju kompetentnima za rad s učenicima s teškoćama i misle da je za tu skupinu učenika korisna socijalizacija s ostalim učenicima unutar redovnog razreda. Ustanovljeno je da učitelji smatraju potrebnim uključiti edukacijske rehabilitatore osposobljene za rad s učenicima s teškoćama u redovite škole. Također, uočena je potreba za snažnijim stručnim usavršavanjem svih sudionika odgoja i obrazovanja o inkluziji, kao i za većom motivacijom učitelja da se dodatno senzibiliziraju za potrebe učenika s teškoćama.Today, the importance of inclusion of students with disabilities in the system of regular education is recognized, and teachers who work directly with students have a great role in this process. In particular, their attitude towards inclusive education plays a key role, as the quality of education depends to a large extent on it. The aim of this paper was to investigate the attitudes of teachers towards the inclusion of students with disabilities in regular primary schools and their competencies for inclusive practice. In the empirical part of the paper, a quantitative methodology was used, and the SPSS Statistics program was used for data processing. 51 teachers (N=51) from six primary schools participated in the research. The results obtained by this research indicate that more work is needed on inclusive culture, given that teachers do not find inclusion useful and think that it is better for students with disabilities to attend specialized schools. On the other hand, teachers consider themselves as competent to work with students with disabilities and think that socializing with other students within the regular class is beneficial for this group of students. It was found that teachers believe that it is necessary to include educational rehabilitators trained to work with students with disabilities in regular schools. Also, the need for greater education of all participants in education on inclusion was noticed, as well as for greater motivation of teachers to further sensitize themselves to the needs of students with disabilities