Primary school teachers' perceptions of inclusive education in Victoria, Australia

This article reports the findings of a study designed to explore the perceptions of primary school teachers toward the inclusion of students with disabilities into general education classrooms in Victoria, Australia. Specifically, the study investigated the relationship between particular demographic factors and teachers' attitudes toward and concerns about inclusive education. Participants included 122 teachers from primary schools around Victoria. The ATIES, Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education Scale (Wilczenski, 1992), and the CIES, Concerns about Inclusive Education Scale (Sharma & Desai, 2002), were utilized to determine participants' attitudes and their level of concern about the inclusion of students with disabilities into mainstream settings. Participants who reported having undertaken training in special education were found to hold more positive attitudes and to experience lowered levels of concern, about implementing inclusive education. In addition, participants with a family member with a disability, and those who possessed some knowledge of the Disability Discrimination Act (1992) exhibited more positive attitudes toward including students with disabilities, while participants with a close friend with a disability and those who felt more confident about their roles as inclusive educators, experienced fewer concerns about implementing inclusive education.