Journal of Education & Social Sciences

Vol. 6(1): 86-95, 2018

Developing Inclusive Education Approaches among Stakeholders in

Anjum Bano Kazimi∗ Syeda Wajiha Kazmi †

Abstract: Inclusive Education is defined as a learning environment that promotes the full personal,
academic and professional development of all learners irrespective of race class, sexual preference, learning
styles and language (NCSNET, 1997). Inclusive Education is a system, an approach, and a way of providing
support to special need persons in achieving their life goals with their abilities and potentials. For some
it is an ideal state, so implementation of these practices varies at all levels. Development and progress of
inclusive education depend on answering many questions: what is the perception people have about it? Why
do we need inclusive education? Who needs it? Whose responsibility is this and what to do to achieve
the goals of Inclusive Education? Answering these questions needs research. Pasha (2012); Dua and Dua
(2017) emphasized the role of stakeholders in promoting Inclusive Education. This study investigated only a
fraction of it related to the question of who are the stakeholders in the process of Inclusive Education. They
are special-need persons, their parents, general students and their parents, teachers, policy makers and the
whole education system. Whether teachers are properly trained to have the right attitude is the key factor
in this process (Engage, 2010; UNICEF, 2003). This research has been designed to investigate perception
about Inclusive Education and development of Inclusive Education approaches among teachers, parents and
administrators of schools through action research. Research was descriptive in nature. Sample of forty-five
was purposely selected from teachers, parents and administrators of schools. Data was collected in two stages:
initial and final (Pre Test and Post Test) through a structured questionnaire validated through expert opinion
to analyze the change in awareness level, skills, and motivation of the sample after conducting a ten-day
workshop. The material was selected and workshop was conducted by the field related experts. The findings of
this research show a positive and significant change in observation, understanding, identification skills and
approach towards special needs, inclusive education and inclusive environment.
Keywords: Inclusive education, perception, special needs, teaching approaches..

Introduction
Inclusive Education is defined by the Salamanca World Conference on Special Needs Ed-
ucation (1994) and was restated in Dakar (paragraph 4). As Inclusive Education meaning
that: “Schools should accommodate all children, regardless of their physical, intellectual,
social, emotional, linguistic or other conditions. Inclusive education is concerned with
identifying and overcoming all barriers to effective, continuous and quality participation
in education, particularly during the primary cycle, where a well-documented human
right to free participation is widely accepted in World Education Forum Dakar, Senegal
∗ Iqra University, Pakistan. E-mail: anjum.bano@iuk.edu.pk
† Iqra University, Pakistan. E-mail: wajiha.kazmi@iuk.edu.pk

86
 Journal of Education & Social Sciences

26-28 April 2000 Education for All 2000 Assessment NUASCO). All developed and de-
veloping countries to move and convert segregated special education system to inclusive
education (Taylor & Ringlaben, 2012), so all children without any discrimination can get
education together. The system where children with different special needs like hearing,
visual, learning, emotional etc. Will get an education, demands a very carefully planned
environment, curriculum, and devoted teachers to increase in global demand, parental
demand and awareness, the number of special needs children increasing and requirement
of professionally trained teachers is also increasing (McHatton & Parker, 2013).
Researcher’s support and show that the strength and quality of education depends on
the quality if teachers and their professional training (Davis & Layton, 2011). If we want
to move towards an inclusive system of education, we will need to train all teachers serv-
ing in general education to meet the demand of required number of trained teachers. The
Professional Competence of Teachers in Inclusive Education. Proper planning and col-
lective efforts of trained teachers can help in bringing enabling educational environment
and including all special- needs children in mainstream (Slavit, Nelson, & Lesseig, 2016).
Inclusive education as assimilation of special children is a basic need of society and
one of the primary duties of the state. Globally, education is considered as a basic human
right and its responsibility lies with the government in Pakistan free primary education
is available in government run schools and also in special schools. All these schools are
serving special-need children, but in segregation (Peerzada & Jabeen, 2014). Pakistan is
still far behind in providing inclusive education for special- needs children, and for some
it is still just an ideal concept as stated by (Kauffman & Hallahan, 1995). For the success of
any educational system, there are three building blocks: teachers, pedagogy and curricu-
lum; but for Inclusive Education a fourth block is also very important (Chu, 2011) and that
is the inclusive environment. The Guidelines for Inclusion (UNESCO 2005) uses four key
elements to conceptualize inclusive education: it can be seen as a process; it requires the
identification and removal of barriers to learning; it aims to have ALL students achieve
results in attendance, participation, and quality learning; for fulfilling a special need of
these children providing an environment in which special need children can learn and
work with least restrictions. The teacher’s role is the most important (Rose, 2007). The
whole teaching process revolves around a teacher and proper training develops a positive
attitude towards inclusion and special-need persons. (Campbell, Gilmore, & Cuskelly,
2003; Forlin, 2006; Rose, 2007).
A teacher’s attitude, behavior, perception and approach towards special needs are
also very important in addition to knowledge. Research indicates that improvement in
knowledge and skills creates an impact on a persons approach to his/her work. Success-
ful implementation of inclusive practices depends mainly on teachers’ attitudes towards
kids with exceptional needs and their inclusion, and teachers’ willingness to work with
children with special needs in their classrooms (Rakap & Kaczmarek, 2010). Knowledge
of special needs, special-need persons and inclusive education impacts shapes attitude
and behavior; it gives insight and observational skills to teachers and parents, which can
help them provide a rich inclusive environment for special-needs children.

87
 Journal of Education & Social Sciences

Literature Review
Davis and Layton (2011); Alghazo, Dodeen, and Algaryouti (2003) concluded that a teache-
r’s attitude toward special-need persons and inclusive teaching is one of the most signif-
icant elements that affects the success of inclusion process and, by understanding and
forming on the attitude, implementation can be bettered. Teachers with more positive
attitudes toward inclusion are more likely to adjust their instruction and curriculum to
meet individual needs of students (Taylor & Ringlaben, 2012). Campbell et al. (2003);
Panda (2005) say that teachers feel confident and relaxed and are more prepared for in-
clusive approach if they are properly trained to have a positive attitude towards special
persons (Beacham & Rouse, 2012). Teachers’ personal knowledge, self-efficacy, feelings,
and attitudes intermingle and impact pre-service teachers’ perceptions about their sci-
ences to instruct all children. Various studies have indicated that improper training of
teachers and nonprofessional attitude towards inclusive education are major obstacles in
the promotion of inclusive education. (Armstrong, Armstrong, & Barton, 2016; Lancaster
& Bain, 2010) concluded that increased knowledge leads to more positive attitudes, yet
though the connection may be quite diminished in a teacher training program. Not only
teacher’s concern and attitude, but also that of heads of institutes are a very important
factor. In Pakistan, the number of private schools is much larger than that of the govern-
ment schools and the private schools have better facilities and freedom of taking decisions
on admission policies, but these institutes are the ones that are negative towards inclusive
education (Saad, 2016). On one hand, they do not want to use their facilities for special-
need students and on the other their teachers are also not very positive. Engage (2010),
which provided training and sensitized teachers to the rights and needs of children with
disabilities, indicated that the attitudes of parents, teachers, politicians, service providers
and other community members are the main challenge to inclusive education. Hussain
(2012) highlighted the importance of community and parental associations for inclusive
education (Rakap, Cig, & Parlak-Rakap, 2017). Rakap and Kaczmarek (2010) highlighted
that willingness to work with special-need children increases positive attitude towards
inclusive education. Researches support and show that the strength and quality of ed-
ucation depend on teachers’ professional training (Davis & Layton, 2011). If we want
to move towards an inclusive education system, we need to train all teachers serving in
general education to meet the demand of required number of inclusive-education-trained
teachers. Proper planning and collective efforts of trained teachers can bring a change
in educational environment and include all special-needs children in mainstream schools
(Slavit et al., 2016).

Methodology
The research was mixed method and descriptive in nature. Sample of forty-five students
was selected purposely from five Government primary schools and five private schools,
primary section in Gulshan-e-Iqbal and three special schools; teachers and parents were
selected randomly; administrators were selected on availability. In the first phase, review

88
 Journal of Education & Social Sciences

of related literature, including documents was done for selection of workshop material.
A team of four experts was developed to conduct workshops. One of the selected schools
was chosen as the venue of the workshop.
As the first step a ten-day workshop was organized in one of the selected schools with
the permission of the principal. Duration was 3 hours per day, in which experts from
related fields w were invited as team members to conduct the workshop. Before starting
the workshop sessions, a pretest was conducted through a structured questionnaire. After
completion of the workshop, a post test was done to collect data.

Instrument
The instrument was designed, prepared and validated through the experts’ opinion and
help. The questionnaire consisted of 22 questions; both close-ended and open-ended
questions were included to get data related to the concepts, understanding and approach
of the participants towards inclusive education based on the information provided to
them through the 30-hour workshop conducted by the experts in the field of special edu-
cation. Data was analyzed through SPSS.

Results
T-test Analysis

Table 1
Paired Samples Statistics
Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Pair 1 PRE Training 3.7027 40 0.60238 0.09524
POST Training 2.9109 40 0.59088 0.09343

Table 2
Paired Samples Correlations
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 PRE Training & POST Training 40 -0.047 0.773

Table 3
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
95% Confidence t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Pair 1 PRE Training - POST Training 0.79178 0.86340 0.13652 0.51566 1.06791 5.800 39 0.000

89
 Journal of Education & Social Sciences

Graphical Representation of Results

90
 Journal of Education & Social Sciences

Interpretation
Results related to the question about having knowledge of inclusive education were quite
interesting; in pretest mostly respondent answered that they have knowledge but in post-
test fewer agreed that they have knowledge about inclusive education. In response to the
question about schools having good environment for inclusive education, results showed
40% agreed while 30% disagreed. In answer to the question whether special-need chil-
dren can get education in general education, the pretest agreement is 20% while posttest
showed that 80% agreed and strongly agreed. In answer to the question whether teachers
in general schools are capable of teaching special-need children, the post-test agreement
score is much higher than the pretest. When asked whether with proper modification
general schools can be converted into inclusive schools, a very low number was in fa-
vor in pretest but a very higher number was in favor in the post test. When asked if it
is very difficult to teach special need child/children, a higher number agreed in pretest
but disagreed in post test. When asked regarding acceptance of special need children by
the parents of ordinary children, results show the positive effect of the training. In re-
sponse to question that inclusive education can have a positive impact on children with
special needs all agreed. In response the question about schools having enough facilities
for special-need children, pretest showed a lot disagreed while post test showed that a
high number agreed. In answering the question about feeling comfortable with special
needs children, nearly all respondents answered agreed or strongly agreed in post-test as
compared to the low level of agreement in the pretest.
In answering the question whether all special children can be integrated in general
schools, a high number showed agreement, but 20% still showed disagreement [In pre,
or post- test?] In answering the question whether inclusive education can improve the
abilities of special needs children, pre and post both results showed agreement. When
asked whether general schools can be converted into inclusive schools with proper mod-
ification, a higher number were not in favor in pretest but a higher number was in favor
in post-test. In response to the question about the abilities of teachers to identify special-
need children in their classes, a great difference was seen in pre and post results. Results
are more positive in post-test. In response to the question about their ability to develop
an IEP, in pretest higher number showed an inability while in post-test higher number
showed ability. In response to the question about using present equipment and facilities
for inclusive education after modification, nearly all agreed in post-test though fewer did
in the pretest. When asked if it was very difficult to teach special-need child/children, a
high number agreed in pretest but disagreed in post-test. When asked if teachers in ordi-
nary schools are willing to teach special-needs children, most people did not agree. When
asked regarding acceptance of special needs children by the parents of ordinary children,
results moved towards agreement after training. In response to the question whether in-
clusive education can have a positive impact on children with special needs, all answered
yes.

91
 Journal of Education & Social Sciences

Descriptive Analysis
Five open-ended questions were also included in the questionnaire. After analyzing
the descriptive answers of the respondents, we concluded that before the training and
the exposure to the inclusive education concept and the diversity of special-need chil-
dren, the respondents listed maximum five categories of special-needs children, but after
having knowledge and training, they listed eleven different categories of special needs
(McHatton & Parker, 2013). In response to a question two about special needs, they ex-
plained special needs of different categories of special need children and included even
minor things. In response to the question what is inclusive education, the respondents
presented a very clear concept differentiating it from special and general education.
In response to the question about identifying changes that they can bring to the en-
vironment, school environment, helping aids, teaching aids and behavior, requiring ev-
erything to be more barrier free and friendly for special needs children, they suggested
and identified a long list which shows improvement in their observation and positive
change in their attitude toward inclusive education (Croft, 2006). In answer to the query
about the importance of inclusive education, respondents explained its economic, social,
moral, behavioral and religious grounds, and its importance, in the position of global
needs. Their responses indicate that knowledge, skills and exposure or sensitization to
special needs can bring change in attitude towards inclusive education (Panda, 2005). In
moving towards a more inclusive education system, there is a requirement to train all
educators to fulfill the diverse requirements of all apprentices in their classrooms and to
work collaboratively with fellow actors.

Conclusion
After analyzing all the responses of pretest and post-test, it is clearly indicated that train-
ing of teachers, parents and head of institutes can bring a very positive change not only in
the attitude towards special-need children but also in the approaches towards inclusive
education. Although the training provided to the participants of the workshop in this
research process was for a short duration (30 hours), its impact can be seen through their
responses. Results show that after getting knowledge and exposure to real working situ-
ation, all participants accepted that they have special needs children in their class/school;
before training they could not identify these children; results also indicated that they all
realized that by making modifications in teaching/learning aids in present educational
setting they can integrate special-need children in ordinary schools. In short the results
reveal that training helped them realize and change their approach towards inclusive ed-
ucation.

Recommendations
National surveys should be directed at a larger scale to get database on the magnitude
and educational condition of kids facing challenges due to types of disability, gender, lo-
cality, age and social structure and so forth. Research indicates that inclusive education

92
 Journal of Education & Social Sciences

is less costly or cost effective as compared to establishing and running separate special-
education institutes, especially in Pakistan. Introduction of inclusive education system
should be initiated and made compulsory in government as well as in private schools.
However, the participation of NGOs and Private Schools Association should be enhanced;
they should be motivated to start an inclusive education in their schools. Large scale
teacher-training programs should be started in all government schools to provide infor-
mation and proper training to presently serving teachers. In addition to this, introductory
courses about IE should be included in all teacher training courses such as B.Ed., M.Ed.
and Montessori. Awareness campaign should be started on a large scale to develop aware-
ness among general public related to the importance and benefits of inclusive education
system.
Mass media like T.V., films, posters, radio and net systems should be used to include
all sections of the society to motivate for inclusive education. Proper facilities or funds
should be provided to schools for making modifications according to inclusive education
requirement. Small pilot projects can be started with the help of international consultants
or organizations. There is a demand to better coordination between government organiza-
tions like the Ministry of Education and Special Education with the ultimate intention of
changing the structure of segregated education towards inclusive education. Sections of
special training at university level should be delegated the job of training teachers work-
ing in a segregated system in government and private schools to train them to implement
inclusive education policy. Short courses for teachers can be started in the morning and
evening shifts to overcome shortage of trained teachers. There should be legislative sup-
port to special persons and special education and it should be made compulsory to admit
special-need children in normal schools. The training policy of the government should
clearly mark out the schedule to determine the most efficient, pragmatic and cost efficient
ways of inducting special-need children in ordinary schools. Universities should encour-
age research to pinpoint the constraints and difficulties encountered in implementing in-
clusive education in their jurisdiction. An updated database should be maintained.

93
 Journal of Education & Social Sciences

References
Alghazo, E. M., Dodeen, H., & Algaryouti, I. A. (2003). Attitudes of pre-service teachers
towards persons with disabilities: Predictions for the success of inclusion. College
Student Journal, 37(4), 515–522.
Armstrong, F., Armstrong, D., & Barton, L. (2016). Inclusive education: policy, contexts and
comparative perspectives. UK: Routledge.
Beacham, N., & Rouse, M. (2012). Student teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about inclusion
and inclusive practice. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 12(1), 3–11.
Campbell, J., Gilmore, L., & Cuskelly, M. (2003). Changing student teachers’ attitudes
towards disability and inclusion. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability,
28(4), 369–379.
Chu, S.-Y. (2011). Teacher perceptions of their efficacy for special education referral of
students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Education, 132(1),
3–15.
Croft, A. (2006). Prepared for diversity? teacher education for lower primary classes in Malawi.
Netherlands: Springer.
Davis, R. S., & Layton, C. A. (2011). Collaboration in inclusive education: A case study of
teacher perceptions regarding the education of students with disabilities. National
Social Science Journal, 36(1), 31–39.
Dua, V., & Dua, A. (2017). Inclusive education in Nigeria: Challenges and issues. Indian
Journal of Research. Retrieved from https://www.worldwidejournals.com
Engage. (2010). Inclusive Education in Pakistan: Experiences and lessons learned from the
Engage project prepared by; American institute for research 1000 Thomas Jefferson Street
NW Washington. Retrieved from https://www.worldwidejournals.com
Forlin, C. (2006). Inclusive education in Australia ten years after Salamanca. European
Journal of Psychology of Education, 21(3), 265–277.
Hussain, K. (2012). Fostering inclusive education in Pakistan: Access and quality in
primary education through community school networks.
Kauffman, J. M., & Hallahan, D. P. (1995). The illusion of full inclusion: A comprehensive
critique of a current special education bandwagon. Nandwagon. PRO-ED, Inc., 8700
Shoal Creek Blvd Austin, TX 78757-6897.
Lancaster, J., & Bain, A. (2010). The design of pre-service inclusive education courses
and their effects on self-efficacy: A comparative study. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher
Education, 38(2), 117–128.
McHatton, P. A., & Parker, A. (2013). Purposeful preparation: Longitudinally exploring
inclusion attitudes of general and special education pre-service teachers. Teacher
Education and Special Education, 36(3), 186–203.
Panda, P. (2005). Responsiveness of pre-service teacher education programme towards
inclusive education in India: Appraisal of curriculum dimensions and practices. In
National council of educational research and training paper presented at the inclusive and
supportive education congress.
Pasha, S. (2012). Readiness of urban primary schools for inclusive education in Pakistan.
Journal of Research & Reflections in Education, 6(2), 113–128.

94
 Journal of Education & Social Sciences

Peerzada, S. M., & Jabeen, M. (2014). Impact of teachers’ subject matter knowledge and
behaviour on students’ performance. Journal of Research & Reflections in Education,
2(2), 154–162.
Rakap, S., Cig, O., & Parlak-Rakap, A. (2017). Preparing preschool teacher candidates for
inclusion: Impact of two special education courses on their perspectives. Journal of
Research in Special Educational Needs, 17(2), 98–109.
Rakap, S., & Kaczmarek, L. (2010). Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion in Turkey. Euro-
pean Journal of Special Needs Education, 25(1), 59–75.
Rose, R. (2007). Special educational needs in inclusion primary classroom. London: Paul
Chapman.
Saad, I. (2016). Education in Pakistan: Perspective, failures and prospects. Journal of
Education & Social Sciences, 4(1), 30–50.
Slavit, D., Nelson, T. H., & Lesseig, K. (2016). The teachers’ role in developing, open-
ing, and nurturing an inclusive stem-focused school. International Journal of STEM
Education, 3(1), 1–17.
Taylor, R. W., & Ringlaben, R. P. (2012). Impacting pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward
inclusion. Higher Education Studies, 2(3), 16–23.
UNICEF. (2003). UNICEF’s Upstream Work in Basic Education and Gender Equality 2003-
2012.

95