DOI: https://doi.org/10.59595/ajie.07.1.3
Salpa Shresthaa
a Kathmandu University School of Education, Kathmandu, Nepal
(Received 30 January 2019, Final revised version received 22 November 2019)
The constitution of Nepal provides an inherent right to every child with special education need to attend community school nearby. But lack of necessary infrastructure and appropriate teacher trainings hinders the inclusive education process. In this context, the teachers’ attitude plays a major role in mainstreaming students with special education need in regular classroom. This study was carried out to measure the attitude of teachers towards the practice of inclusive education for one of the largest group of students with special education needs, the students with intellectual disability (SWID). The quantitative study investigated: a) the demography of teachers affecting the attitude and b) degree of strength of attitude affecting the intention of teachers to practice inclusive education in their classroom. The study design adopted the theory of planned behavior. Total of 197 general education teachers teaching in 33 different schools of Kathmandu participated in the study. The sub-scales of attitude significantly explained the variance in Intention with a strong effect. The perceived behavior control was a major behavioral predictor of intent of teachers to practice inclusiveness in the classroom. The age and level of experience of the teachers had inverse proportional relationship with the intention of teachers to teach SWID.
Keywords: Students with Intellectual Disability (SWID); Inclusive Education; Theory of Planned behavior; Perceived control behavior.