Master's Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject Pedagogy - School System, Educational and School Politics, grade: 72.00, Roehampton University London (Laureate), course: Master of Arts in Inclusive and Special Education, language: English, abstract: This study should bring awareness to the Ministry of Education and Teacher Training Colleges that traditional lecture style training without relevant practicum may be preventing the facilitation of inclusion. Despite Jamaica's Ministry of Education having established an inclusive education policy in 2008, the majority of children with special needs are kept at home. With very little inclusion in schools and segregation of students with special needs (SWSN), teachers in Jamaica have not experienced inclusion and do not feel adequately equipped to facilitate it. Literature shows that teachers with experience only in traditional classrooms, and no exposure to diverse students are likely to be resistant to, or unable to, implement inclusion. Teachers also tend to implement inclusive teaching methods and adopt better attitudes after hands-on experience, modelling with a co-teacher. Five teachers participated in a 2-week training condition, each teacher was provided with an inclusive classroom and an experienced inclusive teacher (mentor). The first week the teacher is assisting the mentor, the second week the mentor assists the teacher with lesson planning and teaching. Teachers were given 2 self-rating questionnaires before and after training to measure whether their attitudes and self-efficacy improved and whether a direct measure of attitude and self-efficacy towards inclusion could be predicted after training. Another questionnaire was given 2 weeks after training that measured the potential success of training through implementation. Using paired sample t-tests for both attitude and self-efficacy scores it was found that all 5 teachers could be predicted to show an increase in both attitude and self-efficacy scores after training. It was also found using independent sample means tests that teachers without any previous experience teaching SWSN gained a larger difference in attitudes compared to teachers who already had experience however there was no difference in gains in self-efficacy.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the perceived teacher efficacy in co-teaching in inclusive classrooms among Resident Educators in Ohio. Novice teachers are required to participate in the program for the first four years of their teaching experience. Research shows that co-teaching is a necessary and effective practice in meeting the needs of all students. Higher teacher efficacy leads to more effective instruction. Data were collected utilizing the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice scale along with demographic questions. A total of 53 Resident Educators were included in the data analysis in December 2015. The study population included primary through high school special and regular education teachers. Inferential statistics were utilized to analyze the three research questions. The first research question examined program (special education vs. regular education) differences in the number of college courses that discussed co-teaching along with the efficacy items and subscales from the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice scale. Special education Resident Educators reported significantly more college courses that discussed co-teaching than regular education Resident Educators. Special education teachers were also significantly more confident in designing learning tasks to ensure the individual needs of the students with disabilities were accommodated. And even more compelling, special education teachers were more able to serve as advocates for students with special needs because they possessed higher perceived self-efficacy in the governing laws and policies. The results showed that the increased perceived self-efficacy of special education teachers allowed then to more readily inform others who know little about the laws and policies related to the inclusion of students with disabilities than regular education teachers. Regular education Resident Educators, however, were significantly more confident in having students work together in pairs or in small groups than special education Resident Educators. The second research question examined the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice scale items and the four subscales in relation to the number of years of teaching experience. Resident Educators in their third and fourth year of teaching had significantly higher perceived self-efficacy on one item in the Efficacy in Managing Behavior subscale, calming a student who is disruptive or noisy, than Resident Educators in their first and second year of teaching. Research question three examined item and subscale differences based upon prior experience in inclusive teaching using t-test for independent samples. Resident Educators with prior experience in inclusive teaching had significantly higher perceived self-efficacy in informing others who know little about laws and policies relating to the inclusion of students with disabilities than Resident Educators without prior experience in inclusive teaching. Three main conclusions were drawn from the findings of the study. First, special education teachers and those with more experience have more opportunities to learn about laws and policies relating to the inclusion of students with disabilities. Second, students majoring in special education receive more training in co-teaching. Lastly, Resident Educators are self-efficacious with inclusive teaching. The findings of the study offers policy and leadership implications for k – 12 education practice and higher education teacher preparation.

This study was an investigation of co-teaching and inclusion practices at the secondary level. In the explanatory sequential mixed-methods study, regular education co-teachers as well as special education co-teachers offered insights by their participation in a survey and focus groups. This study investigated co-teacher perceptions of inclusion and how their perceptions of inclusion and co-teaching influenced the extent of teacher use of elements of Dr. Friend’s co-teaching models. The study also investigated and identified the needs of co-teachers. -- Co-teaching is defined as “two or more professionals delivering substantive instruction to a diverse, or blended, group of students in a single space” (Cook & Friend, 1995, p. 1). The development and implementation of co-teaching came as a response to the 1990 revision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the requirement that students be educated in the Least Restrictive Environment (Shoulders & Krei, 2016). Co-teaching has allowed students with disabilities the opportunity to be supported by an additional teacher as they are educated in regular education classrooms alongside their typically developing peers (Hang & Rabren, 2009). If teacher attitudes and perceptions in the area of inclusion and co-teaching can be identified and articulated and those perceptions can be brought to the attention of principals and district personnel, the learning and instruction of all students in inclusion classrooms may be impacted. -- This study found that both regular and special education co-teachers had a favorable view of co-teaching and inclusion. They agreed that it is effective, and co-teaching provided more instructional intensity than teaching alone. This study also found that while One Teach/One Assist was the most used co-teaching model, Team Teaching was identified as the most ideal model for effective co-teaching. In addition, co-teachers cited content knowledge of co-teachers, compatibility of co-teachers, common planning, positive perspectives of inclusion, and training as needs for successful co-teaching.

This book offers an international perspective of philosophical, conceptual and praxis-oriented issues that impinge on achieving education for all students. It sheds light on the historical, systemic, structural, organizational, and attitudinal barriers that continue to be antithetical to the philosophy and practice of inclusive education within the Caribbean. The first section of the book examines how globalized views of inclusion informed by philosophical ideas from the North have influenced and continue to influence the equity in education agenda in the region. The second section considers how exclusion and marginalization still occur across selected Caribbean islands. It provides both quantitative and qualitative data about the nature and experience of exclusion in selected Caribbean islands, the UK and USA. The third section tackles the practical realities of transforming education systems in the Caribbean for inclusion. In particular, it identifies teacher practices as the main site of interrogation that needs to be tackled if inclusion is to be successful. The fourth and final section examines the contribution of principals and exemplars to the development and advocacy for inclusive education. It discusses how educational leadership is understood, as well as the role of school principals in making inclusion a reality in schools, the challenges experienced and the qualities of education leaders.