Action Research Project

How Do Public School PK-5 Teachers Perceive The Impact

Of Inclusion On Their Students With Special Needs?

University of Colorado-Denver
Hans Broers
Lina Guzman
Caroline Saunders
Jessica Wurst

Introduction
 One of the most frequently discussed topics surrounding the education of special

needs students is that of inclusion. Inclusion refers to the practice of placing students

with special needs into general education classrooms (Causton-Theoharis, 2009). The

implementation of inclusive classrooms and use of inclusive teaching practices is

becoming more and more commonplace within our educational system and the

educational systems around the world, however this idea has been around for several

decades.

Before the 1960’s the topic of special education was really not something that

was thought of much within society as a whole, however, due in part to the social

consciousness that was a product of the civil rights and other movement towards

equality, there developed the idea of specific rights for special needs students (Osgood,

2005, p. 69). In 1975, The Education for All Handicapped Children Act, was passed in

the US, which required that all students be placed in the least restrictive environment

available (Putnam, 1998, p. 6). The law was later reauthorized as the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) and while the legislation does not

explicitly use the term inclusion, the idea was born out of the practice of placing

students in the least restrictive environment was from this act that the idea of inclusion

was born (Causton-Theoharis, 2009, p. 30-31).

The idea of inclusion is still relatively new and because of this there are many

differing opinions and beliefs about the best practices and techniques to use within

inclusive classrooms. As the practice evolves there will surely be shifts and changes in

the methods we can best use to create successful inclusive classrooms. Therefore it is

imperative that as the educational profession continues to learn and grow in the practice
of inclusion, that we listen to the voices of the teachers to help understand the real-

world issues and concerns that arise from these types of environments.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this paper is to determine how public school kindergarten through

fifth grade teachers perceive the impact of inclusion on their students with special

needs. The specific research questions are concerning teacher attitudes, adequacy of

support and teacher training on inclusion. How can the teacher’s perception and

knowledge of inclusion affect student achievement in the general education setting?

Furthermore, what training or strategies can help teacher be more inclusive towards

students with special needs?

Importance of the Study

This study will be important to us as educators because it will help us understand

how teachers in our schools feel about students with special needs. Special Education

is complex with laws mandating how students are placed, identified and supported.

Teachers in our buildings may not understand why a student with special needs is

placed in his classroom without support. We want to not only understand teachers’

attitudes about students with disabilities, but also what support for these students looks

like while they are at school. Finally, we want to know what kind of teacher

development, training or support can help these teachers be more inclusive for this

population. Our research might help teachers feel less alone when they feel

overwhelmed by the amount of differentiation they face by including these students into

their classroom. Our research will shed light on the amount of support students with
special needs receive. Finally, our research will help teachers find resources and

support for inclusion.

Definition of Terms
Inclusion Education

Inclusive education has been defined as “a value-based practice that attempts to bring

students including those with disabilities into full membership within their local school

community” (Udvari-Solner, 1996, p.101).

General Education Teacher

A general education teacher is a teacher with a multiple subject credential who teaches

in a general kindergarten through fifth grade public school classroom.

Member Checking

The method of returning an interview or analyzed data to a participant. Member

checking is used to validate, verify, or assess the trustworthiness of qualitative results

(Doyle, 2007)

Disabilities Education Act of 2004

A law that makes available a free appropriate public education to eligible children with

disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to

those children. (Sites.ed.gov,2017)

American with Disabilities Act

The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with

disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public

and private places that are open to the general public. Became law in 1990.

(Adata.org,2017)

Teacher Attitudes Regarding Inclusion

Teacher Attitudes

There has been a couple of studies related to teachers’ attitudes towards

inclusion. Malki and Einat (2017) interviewed 40 Inclusive Teachers (IT) in Israel. Of the

40 that were interviewed, 35 teachers agreed that the inclusion practice has failed in the

mainstream educational setting. The main reasons for this failure is due to insufficient

training about inclusion and limited professional abilities from mainstream teachers to

work with children with intellectual disabilities. The study also revealed that ITs teachers

usually try to implement different alternatives to provide better opportunities to their

students such as: circumvention of the regulations concerning the inclusion of pupils

and independent learning and training in educational evaluation.

In addition, McCray and McHatton (2011) conducted a study to determine

teachers’ feelings and readiness for inclusion in their classrooms. Results of the survey

indicate, “That although participants were more positive towards inclusion of students

with disabilities at the end of the course, 30.4% either did not agree or were undecided

when asked if they believed most students with disabilities could be educated in general

education classrooms.” (141). People from the study seem most cautious about

including students with intellectual disabilities and multiple disabilities into their

classrooms. Finally, most of the participants from this study agreed that students with

learning disabilities (97.3%), hearing impairments (92.1%) and health impairments

(90.5%) would receive educational benefits in the general education setting.

Taylor and Sobel (2001) surveyed newly graduated teachers about their feelings

towards diversity and disability. The results stated, “These teacher candidates held

strong positive beliefs about their responsibility to provide an equitable education for all
students and about students’ ability to learn….most participants felt that they needed

more experiences to be able to meet the diverse needs of students.” (137). The quote

above states new teachers believe it is of utmost importance to educate children,

however, they don’t feel completely comfortable including and educating students with

special needs.

Finally, another study was completed by Shippen, Crites, Houchins, Ramsey and

Simon (2005) to examine the perceptions of more than 300 pre-service teachers on

inclusion. The survey was sent out to three different universities. Results of this study

found that general education majors, “Still had high levels of anxiety about including

students with special needs when compared to their special education counterparts.”

(137). Both studies, (Taylor and Sobel as well as Shippen et al.) determined that future

teachers who are seeking dual certification- in general and special education- were

more open minded and less nervous about inclusion and educating students with

disabilities than sole certificants.

Adequacy of Support

When analyzing a teacher’s attitude towards inclusion, we wanted to look at

adequate support and how this may affect the positive or negative perceptions of

inclusion in the general education setting. Findings indicate that teachers’ positive

attitudes towards inclusion increase when they feel that adequate support is given

(Broderick et al. 2005). When teachers are given the proper support through external

resources (psychologists, speech and language therapists and so on), along with

internal support from colleagues, classroom assistants and support from

parent/caregivers, classroom environments seem to benefit along with a highly positive

perception. Teachers might make a greater effort to adapt their learning, social and

emotional classroom environments. A collaborative effort is required for a successful

inclusion to occur. Goodman and Burton (2010) suggested that the lack of support

available to teachers leads to non-inclusive classroom environments and negative

attitudes towards including pupils with special education needs.

Additional studies have shown that when principals’ priorities include

collaboration among general and special educators were able to foster positive attitudes

towards inclusion. Principals that value inclusion and support collaboration among

teachers are more likely to develop more positive perceptions among school staff

(Smith & Leonard, 2005; Wallace et al., 2002).

Teacher Training

It is also important when considering the topic of inclusion to take into

consideration what type of training, both preservice and in-service, educators will need

to have in order to be successful at teaching within an inclusive classroom. Teaching is

a complicated profession and inclusion offers both some unique opportunities and

challenges for educators. With inclusive teaching becoming more prevalent, it is

important to place an emphasis on teaching future educators the techniques, skills, and

practices they need to best serve all of their students.

There is no standard method of educating teachers, regardless of the particulars

of a program, however, it is clear that too often teachers are taking on the complex task

of teaching in inclusive environments feeling unprepared or unsupported by their

administration (Snyder, 1999). Peebles & Mendaglia (1994) looked at the effectiveness

of coursework and field experiences in preparing teacher candidates to work in inclusive

classrooms and found that after those experiences, the individuals felt much more

prepared to work in these environments. Additionally, in a study by Flores (2012), 78%

of general education teachers indicated they needed and would benefit on additional

training on how to create an inclusive classroom.

Even though there is no standardized method for preparing special educators,

there are some characteristics from programs that might play an important role when

preparing them. Brownell, Ross, Colon and McCallum (2005), studied different

programs which were special education programs and unified or dual certification

programs. The most described characteristics by these programs were: extensive field

experience that were thoughtfully created, supervised and tied to practices acquired in

coursework. Collaboration was a factor described as well, one faculty mentioned

modeling as a strategy for teaching collaboration skills and the use of projects for

learning to work as a team. At the same time these programs offered experiences

focused in diversity, placing a greater emphasis in student with disabilities. Another

mentioned factor, was the importance of intensive evaluation efforts that included direct

assessment of teacher performance.

In addition, from a study made by Feng and Sass (2013) it was evidence that

teacher experience during the years provides better opportunities for students with

special needs, such as teacher ability to promote students’ achievement. In addition, it

was found that pre-service coursework required for certification in special education

enhanced the productivity of teachers instructing students with disabilities. Well

prepared teachers are more likely to create a welcoming, successful inclusive

environment that elicits the best results for all of their students. It is evident that we
need to do better to prepare both our new teachers and veteran teachers to be

successful in our inclusive classrooms.

Methodology

Setting and Participants

This research will use mixed research methods to gain understanding and insight

on the attitudes given by teachers towards inclusion in mainstream classroom. Data will

be collected through a questionnaire and surveys and will allow the researcher to

compare similarities and differences among the participants.

Sampling will be taken from general and special education teachers from grades

K-5 at three different schools. School number one is an ECE-5 school set in a semi-

rural area that has very little exposure to inclusion within the school on Johns Island,

South Carolina. The school consists of 21 general education teachers and 1 special

education teacher, who provides services for 4-6 year olds for in a non-inclusive setting.

Students’ disabilities are Mild/Moderate. This includes speech and hearing impairment

to physical limitations, emotional disturbance or extreme developmental delays. Forms

of autism are also included. The majority of students come from low income families

with diverse backgrounds. Title I funded school with student population that consist of

33% White, 33% Hispanic, 33% African American.

The second school is a K-5 elementary school in Evergreen, Colorado. Ninety-

five percent of the students are Caucasian. Thirty-six students are currently on IEPs.

This school consists of 13 general education teachers, 3 special education teachers, a

speech language pathologists, social worker, many paraprofessionals and other various

professionals. The students that are on IEPs have mild to moderate disabilities. The
majority of the student body come from middle class families. Primarily students with

disabilities are fully included in the classroom, however, some are pulled out for

intervention services.

The third school is an ECE-5 elementary school in an urban setting in Denver,

Colorado. The school employs 47 full-time classroom teachers, 5 special education

teachers, a full-time speech language pathologist, a school counselor,

paraprofessionals, and part-time occupational and physical therapists.The student body

is 92% hispanic and 85% receive free or reduced lunch. Students have disabilities

ranging from mild to moderate and are fully integrated within the general classroom.

Procedure and Data Collection

Survey and Questionnaire

Information will be gathered using two methods. A Questionnaire will be sent out

to classroom teachers. This questionnaire consists of 6 questions regarding the

teacher’s opinions and attitudes towards inclusion in the classroom. These questions

seek to gain information on adequate training through professional development, best

practices and level of support is being offered through administration and co-teachers.

Questions will also inquire about the the backgrounds and philosophies of teachers and

views towards inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom.

The qualitative data generated in this study will be analyzed using an inductive

analysis approach. According to Merriam (1998) inductive analysis approach identified

themes that emerged directly from data where abstractions, concepts and hypotheses

could be discovered. Questionnaires will be collected and analyzed for main themes.

After text is organized into groups of common themes, coding will begin. The coding

method is a procedure in which text from transcripts in organized and patterns are

clearly discovered. Patterns lead to discovery of the major concepts and insights on the

data (Auerbach & Silverstein, 2003). From here data will be organized to reflect all

themes of all participants.

Data will also be collected through a survey. The survey will allow the data be

processed in a more structured measure. The survey will be used to formulate facts or

uncover patterns within the research. A scale will be used to measure teachers’

attitudes towards inclusion. The scale will represent highly positive attitudes at a 5 to

highly negative attitudes at 0. The survey will consist of 8 questions in which

participants will be asked to truthfully answer all 8. This quantitative analysis involves

using descriptive statistics to improve and further understand numerical data (Li, 2013).

This starts by assigning a numeric score to each response. A scale from 1-5 will be

created to calculate overall score. Response scoring low will be assigned lowest

attitude along with response scoring a 5 will be assigned most positive attitude.

The research will also include the process of member checking. This will allow

the participants to check the accuracy of the data gathered from the survey. The use of

member checking will improve the accuracy of the study and assure the data gathered

is valid.

Analysis

Quantitative Findings
 For the quantitative data, this study employed a survey with 8 questions asking

respondents to rate how much they agreed with a statement using a 5 point likert scale,

with 1 being “Strongly Disagree”, 3 being “Neutral”, and 5 being “Strongly Agree”. A

score of 2 would be somewhere between Strongly Disagree and Neutral. A score of 4

would be somewhere between Neutral and Strongly Agree. The survey sought to

measure both the comfort level of teachers in regards to inclusion, as well as their

general attitudes towards inclusive practices.

Teachers responded with a mean of 4.05 when asked if they felt comfortable

including all types of learners in their classroom. They were less positive, however, in

their feelings towards inclusion in general with only a mean score of 2.95 when asked if

they felt all students with disabilities should be educated in the general education

setting.

The survey also asked questions designed to measure teachers’ attitudes toward

their level of preparedness to teach in inclusive classrooms, as well as the level to

which they felt supported by the special education departments in their schools. The

respondents had a mean score of 3 when asked if they felt they had the necessary skills

to work with special needs students in their classroom. Their mean score when asked if

they felt supported by their special education team in building an inclusive classroom

was 3.43. Finally, when asked if they could benefit from additional education on

inclusion, their mean response was 4.76.

Finally, the survey asked a series of questions aimed at measuring the teachers’

feelings towards the possible benefits of inclusion, as well as the role of communication,

and their own personal biases. The respondents had a mean score of 4.43 when asked
if they felt inclusion could bring positive outcomes to students with and without

disabilities. In regards to the role of communication the mean score was 4.95 when the

teachers were asked if they felt that connection and communication with families was

fundamental to providing the best opportunities for students in the inclusion program.

When asked whether they were aware of their own personal biases related to working

with children with special needs, the mean response was a 4.19. A summary of the

measures of central tendency for all of the survey questions is below in Table 1.

Table 1: Measures of Central Tendency for Survey

Question Mean Median Mode

I feel comfortable including all types of learners in my 4.05 4 5
classroom.

I think all students with disabilities should be educated in 2.95 3 2

the general education setting.

I think I have all the necessary skills for working with 3 4 4

students with special needs in my classroom.

I feel supported by the special education team in my 3.43 3 2

building to have an inclusive classroom.

I could benefit from having more education on inclusion. 4.76 5 5

I feel inclusion brings positive outcomes to students with 4.43 4 5
and without special needs.

I feel the connection and communication with families is 4.95 5 5

fundamental for providing the best opportunities for
students in the inclusion program.

I am aware of my own bias related to working with children 4.19 4 4

with special needs.

* Numbers are based on responses from a 5 point likert scale with 1 being Strongly Disagree and 5 being Strongly Agree.

Qualitative Findings
 For the qualitative portion of this study, we used a 6 question questionnaire,

aimed at measuring teachers’ attitudes about inclusion and whether those attitudes

have changed since they began teaching, the level of training and support they feel they

have had, and the difficulties and benefits they see as part of using inclusive practices.

The narrative responses were all read and coded to identify common themes.

Question 1 asked “What is your opinion about inclusion?”. The answered were

coded as either positive, negative, or neutral, based on the verbiage used. Of the 20

respondents 70% reported feeling positive towards inclusion, 25% reported feeling

neutral, and 5% reported having negative feelings. Many respondents felt it was a good

practice, but only if implemented well and with supports.

The 2nd question asked if their feelings toward inclusion had changed since they

began teaching. Answers were coded as either indicating a positive change in attitude,

a negative change in attitude, or no change in attitude. Positive changes in attitudes

were reported by 35% of the respondents, negative changes were reported by 30%,

and no changes in attitude were reported by 35%.

The 3rd question aimed to measure how much training teachers had received

about teaching in inclusive environments. The answers were coded for those that

indicated they had received some training and those who reported having received no

training. When asked what kind of training or professional development they have

received on inclusion, 60% said they had received some training, but 40% said that they

had received no training at all. Many that had received training said they had received

very little.
 Question 4 asked teachers about the level of support they had from co-workers

and administration. Answers were coded to differentiate between respondents that felt

supported by their colleagues and administration and those who did not feel supported.

Many reported having suppose with 90% responding that they felt they had some

support system in place and only 10% reporting they felt unsupported by their

community. While many individuals reported having supports in place, many felt that the

resources were often too little compared to the need.

Question 5 asked the teachers what the major difficulties they faced when having

students with special needs in their classrooms. The answers were coded to find

common themes between the responses. Some of the most common responses

included; a lack of sufficient training, lack of time to prepare and instruct all students, the

feeling that their attention was unfairly divided between all of the students, having to

adhere to unrealistic grade-level standards for their special needs students, and having

too little support within their school.

Question 6 asked teachers what benefits they saw from inclusive practices. The

answers looked for specific coded words to find common themes amongst the

responses. Teachers reported several benefits they had seen from their own practice of

inclusion including; social growth for all students, increased collaboration between

special education staff and classroom teachers, academic and social benefits for

special needs students, and an increase in compassion and empathy for all students.

Interpretation of Results

The focus of this study was to gather information about how classroom teachers

felt about inclusion and the impact it has on the child with disabilities. Inclusion, in this
context, was defined as including students with special needs into the general education

setting. Seventy percent of the participants reported feeling positive towards inclusion.

Descriptive words of inclusion from the participants included “best option” and “great

way of teaching.” One reported that inclusion is “too difficult to give all students enough

attention.” In total, the study acknowledged mostly positive similar views towards

inclusion across the three different schools that were surveyed.

Results of the study seemed to show that teachers feel somewhat neutral about

the support they receive from other professionals in their buildings on inclusion. The

majority of teachers that took this survey responded with a neutral feeling to the

statement, “I feel supported by the special education team in my building to have an

inclusive classroom.” Conclusively, more support from special education staff in the

building could help teachers feel more comfortable about inclusion.

Additionally, participants feel as though they could use more training or

professional development on inclusion. This type of professional development would be

beneficial to the teacher, students and school culture. Results here indicate that support

from the special education staff or paraprofessionals could be utilized to help classroom

teachers. Teachers did not specify what kind of additional training would be beneficial

but it additional training would be helpful to these participants.

Finally, this study shows that classroom teachers feel positively about inclusion.

Survey and questionnaire takers believe that inclusion has a positive effect, not only the

teacher, but the whole classroom environment; this includes students who are disabled

and nondisabled. According to these teachers, students who are disabled show

positive results when included in the general education setting.

Limitations

The study had a some limitations. Having a small sample size from only 3

different schools made results of this study very limited. Even though patterns were

found in the data the amount of time to conduct questionnaire/surveys and analysis data

was very short. The study did collect data from 3 very diverse demographics, having

more time to conduct one on one interviews along with more data, could have deepen

the study of attitudes and beliefs. However, the sampling was appropriate for both the

qualitative and quantitative design.

Recommendations

This study shared some great data on teachers views on inclusion. When

looking foward with this study you can look at how time and exposure can contribute to

the different views of teachers and how they might change. The study took into

account teachers that have been teaching over five years, it could be interesting to

compare and contrast perspectives of a student teacher compared to a teacher that has

been in the field for 25 years. This can also involve studying the same teachers over a

period of time.

The study also can take the direction of how much exposure a teacher has to

inclusion and how it can change their perception. This study included general education

teachers. Although teaching many years for some, it does not take into account how

much inclusion exposure each teacher has had. Looking into general education

teachers views and comparing them to a teacher that has had years of exposure

(Special Ed.) would be something to see if this has any effects on perceptions.
 In the future we can be looking at parent and community perceptions and how

that can affect classroom environments in regards to inclusion. What if a community

doesn’t believe in inclusion and pull back on funding to help support teachers with

education? Can a school stay positive and promote a healthy classroom environment

without parent or community support?

Appendix 1

Questionnaire

Name: _________________________ Date:_________________________

Years Teaching:__________________ School District:_________________
1. What is your opinion about inclusion?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. How have your feelings about inclusion changed since your first year of
teaching?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

3. What kind of training or professional development have you received on

inclusion?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
 ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

4. What kind of support do you have, as a teacher, from co-workers or

administrators in your building?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

5. Which are the major difficulties you face when having students with special
needs? How can these be addressed?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

6. What benefits of inclusion have you seen in your classroom?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Appendix 2
Survey

Name: ____________________________ Date:_________________________

Years Teaching:_____________________ School District:_________________

1. I feel comfortable including all types of learners in my classroom.

Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

1 2 3 4 5

2. I think all students with disabilities should be educated in the general education
setting.

Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

1 2 3 4 5

3. I think I have all the necessary skills for working with students with special
needs in my classroom.

Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

1 2 3 4 5

4. I feel supported by the special education team in my building to have an

inclusive classroom.

Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

1 2 3 4 5
 5. I could benefit from having more education on inclusion.

Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

1 2 3 4 5

6. I feel inclusion brings positive outcomes to students with and without special
needs.

Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

1 2 3 4 5

7. I feel the connection and communication with families is fundamental for

providing the best opportunities for students in the inclusion program.

Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

8. I am aware of my own bias related to working with children with special needs.

Strongly Disagree Neutral Strongly Agree

1 2 3 4 5
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Researcher Memo:
Jessica Wurst

As a researcher I feel that my strengths were always questioning. Why these

numbers look this way? Why did people answer that way? Who decides whether or not

these numbers or right? This fed my curiosity to always want to look for another

answer. Maybe eventually finding that final answer? So as a reader I would continue to

find facts and articles and books regarding my subject that would always lead me to

more information. This is great for me as a reader but as a researcher, my papers or

work always seemed go off topic and left readers with more questions than answers. I

needed to find a way to have control and focus to keep to one topic or subject. This

assignment has help me organize my thoughts and proceed as a focused researcher. I

was more organized with my steps and procedures and made sure the research was

purposeful. This class really helped me take it step by step to produce a research paper

that stayed on topic but still left me wondering for more to continue further research

The collaboration piece was also something that I enjoyed. I have to remember

that teammates can add a lot of depth and validity to your research. Having a small

group of people working on one subject also kept me thinking on topic and really helped

control the urge to keep on pursuing questions that went off topic. Working with a team

can be something I will be more willing and flexible to do in the future in regards to
research. I think sometimes as teachers you feel very isolated in your classroom and

you forget that the teacher next door might be having the same question or discussions.

Researcher Memo:
Caroline Saunders

When I started working in the special education field, I often wondered how

beneficial it is to have students with special needs included in the general education

setting. I see the benefits everyday at my school. Students with special needs are

looked at as equals in their classrooms. They aren’t seen as, “that special ed kid.”

‘Typical’ children see students with disabilities as having some learning differences but I

rarely see discrimination towards my students with special needs. Teachers in my

building are accommodating and welcoming to these students with disabilities.

I loved researching this question because it’s interesting to think about inclusion

from the classroom teacher’s perspective. I am always in awe of teacher who can

manage 30 students and cater to many different learning disabilities single handedly.

This research told me that teachers believe in inclusion. They want to welcome students

with disabilities into their classrooms. More education and training is needed for these

teacher to feel completely confident in their practice but I love that teachers are excited

and willing to include.

I really enjoyed this research process. I never thought of myself as an action

researcher but now, I do! I liked getting to work in a group too. With these online

classes, I often feel like an island. Most of the work is completed on our own and

besides the discussions, there isn’t a lot of communicating with each other. When I
worked in this group, however, I felt more like a bridge because I got to share my

experiences with my team members and I get to hear theirs.

Researcher Memo:

Lina Guzman

This research was a wonderful opportunity for discovering the perspectives and

thoughts teachers have related to inclusion. In Colombia (where I come from) there is

still missing a lot of research and practices related to inclusive settings. Few schools

provide inclusive opportunities and the children that are able to access are the children

who come from high socio-economic strata. I was willing to understand how teachers

view inclusion and the effects it has on their students, how providing and environment

and the necessary supports can promote positive outcomes in students with special

needs.

In addition, this study gave me the opportunity to understand how an action

research process might take place, and which are the wonderful outcomes about being

actively engage in the process. At the same time, it provided valuable information about

how teachers truly believe that inclusion brings positive outcomes to their students and

made me realize how important is to start emphasizing on teacher training and

preparation for promoting qualitative inclusive opportunities to their students.

Inclusion should be always a matter of interest in education, since it is a reality

that children who live with specific needs required to be included within a setting that

promotes equal opportunities and appropriate environments for promoting the best
possible outcomes in their learning, developmental process and acquisition of skills that

would support them in becoming as independent as possible.

Researcher Memo:
Hans Broers

The more I got involved in this project, the more I wanted to learn more. I had

always been a little scared of research as it always seemed very regimented and

process oriented. Once I started to learn more about action research, I really started to

love how it allows educators to really delve into the environment they are a part of and

gain more insight into what works in their specific setting.

I had always been a supporter or inclusion, but having taken on a special

education role this year, I felt more inclined to learn about the views of others. As we

learned more about inclusion, I found myself thinking often about how I could implement

some of the ideas in my own practice. Conversely, it also made me realize just how little

I know about this topic and how much I still need to grow as a professional. It was really

a very reflective exercise for me.

One issue that I had was, that at times, my curiosity was not in line with what

might actually be a feasible topic to study. Throughout the process of putting together

the study, I kept thinking about how we could expand the project and gain more insights

about the specific things we can do in our profession to better prepare educators to

work in inclusive environments. I hope to independently follow up with some of the

individuals in my school and talk to them about why they feel the way they do, and what
can be done to bridge the gap between the feelings of support for inclusive education,

and the reality of so many of them feeling underprepared.