Chris Forlin

Inclusive Practices: How Accepting are Teachers?

This research addressed the question of educators’ beliefs about the rights of children with a disability to be included in regular schools. Principals and teachers from Education Support Centres (ESCs) and attached primary schools in Western Australia rated whether they considered children with either a physical or intellectual disability should be integrated full‐time or part‐time depending upon the degree of the disability (severe, moderate, mild). Acceptance of integration was lower for the child with an intellectual disability than for the child with a physical disability. Acceptance decreased as the degree of severity increased. Educators were more accepting of part‐time integration, but mostly only for the child with a mild or moderate disability. Educators from the ESCs were more accepting than were their regular school peers and as educators became more experienced they became less accepting of inclusion. Educators appeared to have strong beliefs regarding inclusive practices and these beliefs di...

Validation of the factor structure of the interactions with disabled persons scale

The Interactions with Disabled Persons Scale (IDP; Gething, 1991b) is designed to measure attitudes towards people with a disability. Factor analysis of the 20-item scale has identified six relatively stable and correlated factors tapping different aspects of discomfort during contact with people with disabilities (Gething, 1992, 1994). The present study investigated the factor structure of the IDP scale using 2,850 pre-service teachers from six universities in Australia and South Africa. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the six-factor model fitted the data from both the Australian and South African samples. A two-factor solution reported by MacLean and Gannon (1995) was rejected. Further analysis of subscales formed from these factors showed that scores were weakly related to gender, previous contact with people with disabilities, and length of full-time employment prior to commencing study.

Teachers' Personal Concerns About Including Children with a Disability in Regular Classrooms

Regular class teachers are increasingly being asked to accommodate children with intellectual and physical disabilities in their regular classrooms. This research in Western Australia considers the personal concerns that regular class and special education teachers entertain regarding inclusive educational practices. It is proposed that an increased understanding of teachers concerns regarding inclusive practices will provide a substantial base upon which to implement new methodologies for inclusion and improve the likelihood of the effectiveness of such practices.

Constitutional and Legislative Framework for Inclusive Education in Australia

IN this article we argue that, despite the complex arrangement of laws and policies for education in Australia, there is no legal mandate to ensure that inclusive education occurs. Although the legislative framework for inclusion appears deficient compared with other western countries, there are avenues for persons with a disability to seek redress. The legislative structure for education in Australia is presented from a constitutional basis. The duties, rights and responsibilities of teachers, specifically when including children with disabilities in their regular classrooms, are examined from a legal perspective. Finally, recent cases which have challenged regular class placements for children with disabilities are reviewed.

Legal Frameworks for Devolution in Regular and Special Education.

This paper presents a discussion of legislative frameworks that mandate schools to define their own educational processes and systems. The political and constitutional implications are discussed for Australia compared with the existing structures in the United Kingdom and the United States. As decentralisation varies considerably in Australia between states and territories, the State of Western Australia is selected as an example. Specifically an analysis of the approach adopted by Western Australia is evaluated for the need for effecting equality of regular and special education. It is argued that new education laws are essential to promote equity in restructured systems.

The Tutoring Process and its Manifestation in the Classroom Behaviour of Tutors and Tutees

Three case studies were conducted of seventh graders teaching mathematics to third graders, in place of their classroom teacher, applying the Learning Through Teaching (LTT) method. Audio and video recording provided information on tutoring sessions. Trained observers coded the behaviours of the tutors and tutees during the tutoring sessions and in their respective classes during mathematics and other lessons. The results show that when tutors are appropriately prepared to teach their younger counterparts, substantial academic task-related activities are later enhanced in their regular class. Furthermore, both tutors and tutees become better achievers and more socially accepted by their peers. These results are restricted to successful interactions between the tutor and tutee. The present investigation suggests that tutoring seems to benefit more the tutor than the tutee on both academic and social aspects.

Special Education Research in Australia

This article describes an Australian research identity in special education. Consideration initially is given to what is meant by special education in the Australian context. A brief historical perspective follows with a focus on research conducted in Australia. Various research domains employed by Australian researchers are described, and significant examples of research studies are outlined. Three specific research practices are identified that currently are gaining momentum--namely, international collaborative projects, research with preservice teachers, and greater emphasis on the contextual and sociological aspects of educating students with special needs.