KUWAITI GENERAL EDUCATION PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF INCLUDING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN GENERAL EDUCATION SETTINGS: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Back to Page Authors: Bedoor Alazemi

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Keywords: Inclusion, perceptions, pre-service teachers, students with disabilities, Kuwait

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Abstract: The inclusion of students with disabilities in general education settings has been a major topic of discussion for many years. However, studies that investigated perceptions toward inclusion, precisely by Kuwaiti pre-service teachers, were limited. Therefore, a qualitative research design was conducted to explore the perceptions and knowledge of 30 general education pre-service teachers regarding the inclusion of students with disabilities. Semi-structured interview was administered to collect an in-depth data. Four major themes were generated: 1) perception toward inclusion, 2) perceptions toward students with disabilities, 3) difficulties and obstacles hinder the implementations of inclusion, and 4) the necessary components to achieve inclusion. Findings indicated that the majority of pre-service teachers hold negative perceptions toward inclusion and students with disabilities. Participants defined inclusion as educating students with disabilities in isolated classrooms within general schools. Also, results found that the nature and/or severity of the disability were important keys in determining perceptions toward inclusion. Mild disabilities and categories such as physical and/or learning disabilities were the most accepted disabilities by the participants. In addition, the majority of the participants reported that the lack of skills and knowledge, and limited resources and support were the main obstacles confront the implementation of inclusion in Kuwait. All findings were discussed in terms of preservice teacher training programs and suggestions were provided to educate and train future teachers to work with students with disabilities in general education settings.

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