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Attitudes Towards Teaching All Students
By: Brit Till, Advisor – Dr. Rea Kirk
When I first applied for the Pioneer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, I was unaware
of exactly how much of a time commitment I was signing up for. Dr. Rea Kirk had initially
urged me to apply after I had agreed to help her with her research concerning the attitudes of preservice teachers while serving those with special needs. I had taken Dr. Kirk's Introduction to
Inclusion course previously, but still considered myself to be a newbie when it came to matters
concerning education and/or specialized education. I was excited at the notion of getting
involved with research, because I was just beginning to think about graduate school and knew
that having research would indeed be beneficial in those pursuits. Yet, I felt I would be doing a
lot of catch-up work and that I was getting myself into something way over my head...as usual.
The paper work was TREMENDOUS. It was a part-time job in itself, even though I
already had two other part-time jobs while I was going to school full-time. Of course I had
known that there would be some sort of legalities (IRB) paper work, because we would be
surveying the general public within the university, but I did not realize how much the university
had to protect itself from liability. After surpassing all of the steps required in order to conduct
the survey, I felt I had a very thorough understanding of the research procedure and that it would
be a breeze from there. That was not the case, however; I had to work an abundant amount of
hours revising and rewording everything. Even though I felt it was rather laborious, I must admit
that I also feel that I have learned a lot from it and that it will be very useful to have previous
research experience in graduate school. Although I do not plan to apply to graduate school for
any sort of degree in Education, this experience will definitely help me gain a more thorough
understanding of the intensity and dedication needed for serious research.
The Problem:
While taking the course "Introduction to Inclusion" with Professor Rea Kirk, Dr. Kirk
explained the deficits in special education teaching practices amongst pre-service teachers
entering the workforce. Teachers fresh out of teacher-preparation-programs in colleges and
universities alike were not implementing the federal rules and regulations regarding students
with special needs to the proper extent. As a majority, inclusive practices within today's schools
systems are lacking the leadership needed to implement these new federal mandates concerning
students with disabilities' access to general education classrooms. Vast amounts of teacher
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preparation programs, although focused on "pedagogical knowledge", lack in tangible experience
relative to inclusive practices in least restrictive environments (Conderman & JohnstonRodriguez, 2009; Kim, 2011). Federal mandates require that teachers include students with
special needs in the general classroom setting with their fellow classmates to the fullest extent
possible, instead of secluding them in a resource room.
As a result, pre-service teachers readily label themselves as feeling unprepared to meet
the needs of their students with disabilities and their training as inadequate (Lombard et al.,
1998). Many teachers' opposition to this implementation was that they did not have the proper
training to incorporate these "extra-students" into their classrooms and/or that they felt
uncomfortable doing so. This deficit of face-to-face encounters with children requiring inclusive
practices proves detrimental to the attitudes of pre-services teachers, which only serves to inspire
the utmost lack of confidence within their ability.
This lack of underprepared educators has been well-documented across the states in
journals and peer-reviews. Many believe this to be attributed to the lack of experience-based
learning incorporated into degree requirements. Pedagogical knowledge far outweighs
experience-based knowledge throughout the course of most teacher-preparation programs within
universities and colleges. Previous research has ascertained through self-reflection in anonymous
surveys that classroom teachers generally feel inept in the vicinity of special education, because
they did not get enough face-to-face exposure while completing their degree. They say they feel
uncomfortable teaching and communicating with someone with special needs because of their
own inadequacies in their degree program. Dr. Kirk and I were curious to see if the same was
true about University of Wisconsin- Platteville pre-service teachers.
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In conjunction with Dr. Lori A. Noto and Dr. Jess L. Gregory at the University of
Bridgeport and the University of Southern Connecticut, respectively, Dr. Kirk and I borrowed a
survey developed by Dr. Noto and Gregory in order to establish where our graduates and
incoming freshman stand on issues pertaining to students with special needs.
The Solution:
After making a few minor adjustments to the survey, Dr. Kirk and I distributed them at
the beginning of the semester in September to three separate sections of the Introduction to
Education courses required for students considering the teacher-preparation program. This initial
step was put into place to gauge the starting attitudes of the general freshman population
concerning students with special needs. They were asked to rate on a scale of one to seven their
opinion on inclusive practices, students in general, students with special needs, and their own
ability.
To start off, inclusive practices may be defined as a philosophy encompassing the notion
that all children should be educated in the school or classroom he or she would normally be
attending regardless of their individual disabilities (Gehrke & Cocchiarella, 2013). This can be
expanded to imply that all teacher preparation program graduates "should regard all students as
capable of learning and be committed to treating all students equitably" (Adey, 1998). Yet, even
though one may be able to ascertain the abstract definition of inclusive practices, schools
ultimately decide how to implement their theoretical ideas of inclusion and what constitutes an
inclusive environment.
The volunteers' surveys were of course kept strictly and discreetly confidential and
anonymous without the use of any names or any other identifying factors. Most students
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indicated that they had not had much previous experience working with students with special
needs, but that they were open to opportunities in an environment where they could gain more
experience. Most, if not all, indicated that they had no prior prejudices against people with
disabilities and that they were interested in further breaking down barriers within the classroom
between students by implementing the federal mandates.
The second part of our survey process was the distribution to the outgoing sector of
students in the teacher-preparation program. This sector was comprised mainly of students
enrolled in "Senior Seminar" and "Pre-student Teaching", who were on their way out of college
and moments away from entering the work force. This group was administered the same survey
as was administered to the freshman in the "Introduction to Education" course, except the second
survey group was administered their survey towards the end of the semester in order to
incorporate the wealth of their classroom experiences. There were no other alterations between
the two surveys and both measured their attitudes towards teaching all students regardless of
capability or disability.
After collecting all of the aggregate data, Dr. Kirk and I corresponded with the chair of
the math department, Dr. Barb Barnet, in order to synthesize the results of our two surveys and
understand the correlation of information between the two. Dr. Barnet recommended that we
utilize a Sample Two T-Test to find the results of not only our survey, but also more than a year
of work. The Sample Two T-Test, as I learned that day, is a test that measures the probability of
two sets of inputted data being from the same source- meaning, it measured what the likelihood
was that our first survey and our last survey came from the same survey test group. Dr. Barnet
informed us that our P-value was 0, and that meant the likelihood was zero and the attitudes were
polar opposites. This was amazing news for us.
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The results proved without a doubt that the courses within the School of Education and
the University of Wisconsin's teacher preparation program were changing the attitudes and
opinions of its students and making an impact. Previous researchers and schools that had utilized
this survey had not experienced the success that we had and we were overjoyed that we were
within that small minority. Our outgoing teachers not only felt comfortable and at ease around
students with disabilities, but also felt that they were capable of incorporating them within the
general classroom setting while catering to their physical, psychological, and emotional needs.
Further Implications:
By conducting these surveys and this research, Dr. Kirk and I hope to distribute our
findings to other teacher-preparation programs in order to develop and shape them into more
conducive programs to serve and benefit students. These results will prove to point out the
necessity of experience-based knowledge and hopefully influence universities to implement
more classroom-based knowledge within their college coursework. The structure of degree
programs must constantly be under revision in order to keep up with the changes in federal
mandates and recent findings surrounding education. A stagnate program only produces
immovable viewpoints within its pupils, which may cause these pupils to never be capable of
fully incorporating any further advancements within their field of education. Teachers who are
educated in the ever-changing ways of education will be prepared to adjust and alter their
curriculum to meet the needs of a variety of students and their abilities. They will also possess
the ability to influence and educate their coworkers and administration about the recent concerns
of inclusive practices and the various ways they are being implemented in today's school
systems.
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"In some schools, inclusion means the mere physical presence or social inclusion of
students with disabilities in regular classrooms; in other classrooms; in other schools, it means
active modification of content, instruction, and assessment practices so that students can
successfully engage in core academic experiences and learning" (Villa, R.A., & Thousand, J.S.,
2003). These diverse forms of implementation serve to represent the scholastic inequalities
between teachers' attitudes towards teaching all students. In order to unify teachers' perceptions
and opinions detailing inclusive practices, teacher preparation programs need to be restructured
to include and satisfy special education certifications (Van Laarhoven, T., Munk, D., Lynch, K.,
Bosma, J., & Rouse, J., 2007).
Teacher preparation programs supplemented with a dual curriculum catering to both
field-based experiences and classroom knowledge serve to better implement the ideals and focus
of inclusion by integrating the two into a stream of conscious awareness on the subject.
Additionally, this stream of awareness would also serve as a framework for exploring,
understanding, and experiencing other aspects of inclusion. Adaptations to the current
expectations of pre-service teaching programs would include greater focus on evaluating teacher
candidates' knowledge and performance, while upholding the value of both constant personal and
institutional reflection in order to embrace areas of weakness and strengthen them (Sindelar, et
al., 2010).
Resources:
Although Dr. Rea Kirk and I had originally intended to use the money I received ($340)
as a PURF recipient to fund the necessities of traveling back and forth to a particular research
conference, the money was instead used to fund the cost of purchasing scholarly journals which
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were unavailable through school resources, and the remainder will be used to cover the cost of
submitting our research to particular journals and/or future research conferences. These funds
also helped a lot by allowing me to cut my hours back at work in order to really delve into this
research during crucial deadlines and intensive points.
Faculty Involvement:
Dr. Rea Kirk has been an integral part of this research in every way. She walked me
through all of the steps to ensure that I understood what I was doing and that I was doing it right.
She answered all of the questions that I had and made sure to involve me every movement of our
research every step of the way. I am so very grateful that I had her for help with the paperwork
portions of the research, and especially the IRB process. My research would definitely not have
been viable without Dr. Kirk, since she was the one who invited me to embark on this crazy
quest for answers. I did most of the typing and writing portions of the research, but she always
double-checked my work for accuracy and quality. It was quite the transition to go from writing
creatively and/or for class to writing very strict and informative papers about processes and
theories.
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Works Cited
Adey, K.L. "Preparing a Profession: Report of the National Standards and Guidelines for Initial
Teacher Education Project." Canberra: Australian Council of Deans of Education (1998): n. pag.
Print.
Conderman, and Johnston-Rodriguez. "TEACHING Exceptional Children Plus." "Communicating and
Collaborating in Co-taught Classrooms" by Greg Conderman, Sarah Johnston- Rodriguez Et
Al. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
Gehrke, R. S., and M. Cocchiarella. "Preservice Special and General Educators' Knowledge of
Inclusion." Teacher Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education
Division of the Council for Exceptional Children 36.3 (2013): 204-16. Print.
Laarhoven, T. R. Van, D. D. Munk, K. Lynch, J. Bosma, and J. Rouse. "A Model for Preparing Special
and General Education Preservice Teachers for Inclusive Education." Journal of Teacher
Education 58.5 (2007): 440-55. Print.
Lombard, R. C., R. J. Miller, and M. N. Hazelkorn. "School-to-Work and Technical Preparation:
Teacher Attitudes and Practices Regarding the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities." Career
Development for Exceptional Individuals 21.2 (1998): 161-72. Print.
Sindelar, P.T., M.C. Pugach, C.C. Griffin, and M. Seidl. "Reforming Teacher Education: Challenging
the Philosophy and Practices of Educating Regular and Special Educators." Integrating School
Restructuring and Special Education Reform (1995): n. pag. Print.
Villa, R.A., and J.S. Thousand. "Making Inclusive Education Work." Teaching All Students (2003): n.
pag. Print.