Inclusive Education

Purpose: Inclusive education plays an important role in improving the situation of students with special needs. The present study was conducted with the purpose of developing a local model of inclusive education for students with special needs in the exceptional education organization due to the lack of a local model in this field. Methodology: This study was applied in terms of purpose and qualitative in terms of execution method. The research community was professors and experts in educational management and psychology of exceptional children in the field of inclusive education in Tehran in 2020-21, and 10 people were selected as a sample using the purposeful sampling method according to the principle of theoretical saturation. The tool of the present study was a semi-structured interview, which its validity was confirmed by the opinion of experts and its reliability was calculated by the coefficient of agreement between two coders at 0.85. TO analyze data, the method of coding and thematic analysis was used in MAXQDA version 20 software Findings: The findings indicated that the local model of inclusive education for students with special needs had 40 indicators, 16 components and 7 categories; so that the categories included the development of cultural capital, development of human resources, communication between family and school, preparation of educational infrastructure, response to educational needs, continuous monitoring and follow-up, and continuous interaction with education. Finally, the local model of inclusive education for students with special needs was designed and developed in the exceptional education organization. Conclusion: The results of this research can be used by specialists and planners of exceptional education. Through planning to improve the components and categories identified in the current research, they can provide the basis for improving inclusive education for students with special needs in exceptional education organizations.

Inclusion as an educational practice that has its roots in social justice promotes equal access to educational opportunities for all students irrespective of their special educational needs (SEN). The efficacy of such inclusive education largely depends on teachers, particularly their attitudes and skills for teaching students with SEN in mainstream classrooms. That being the case, teacher education programs play a crucial role in fostering these requisite skills and attitudes. This quantitative cross-sectional correlational study examines the attitudes, sentiments, and concerns of pre-service English language teachers regarding inclusive education. A total of 139 pre-service English teachers from five universities completed the Sentiments, Attitudes, and Concerns about Inclusive Education–Revised Scale. Descriptive statistics and correlational analyses were used to analyze the data. The results indicated moderate attitudes towards inclusive education among the pre-service English language teachers. While their sentiments and concerns about inclusive education showed variations based on their prior coursework experience, their attitudes remained stable. Moreover, the attitudes and concerns of the participants did not reveal a significant correlation with their policy knowledge, but the sentiment scores showed statistically significant differences in the two groups. Finally, the amount of previous experience with SEN students did not significantly differ in terms of attitudes, sentiments, or concerns about inclusive education. The findings provide implications for foreign language teachers, teacher educators, and initial teacher education program developers.