Teachers’ Attitudes and Beliefs of Inclusion in Curacao
Joseph Sencibaugh, Ph.D.; Angela Sencibaugh, Ed.D. & Jennifer Bond, M.A.E.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes and beliefs of general and special education teacherstowards the inclusion of students with special education needs. The study investigated the correlation between both groups of teachers’ attitudes. A total of 83 teachers from the public-school system on the island of Curacao participated in the study. The questionnaire, My Thinking about Inclusion Scale, was used (Stoiber, K. C., M. Gettinger, and D. Goetz. 1998). The 28-item MTAI Total Scale had an internal consistency of .94 and was comprised of three belief subscales: Core Perspective, Expected Outcomes and Classroom Practices. The results revealed that general education and special education teachers bothheld similar views of inclusion, which were positive. Both groups believed the implementation of inclusive service delivery models would likely succeed if properly vetted with support from stakeholders even though programmatic changes would be challenging due to an entrenched system of educating students with special education needs in separate schools.