Abstract:
Inclusionary practlces prescrlbe that children, regardless of
exceptlonal1ty shall benefit from recelving educatlonal servlce 1n
the context of the regular class setting. The resulting el1mlnatlon of
separate speclal classes could be v1ewed as aneconom1c advantage.
In po1nt of fact, many school boards and d1strlcts 1n both Canada and
the Unlted States are movlng towards 1mplementatlon of
lncluslonary practice, posslbly for the above stated reason.
Regardless, 1ncluslon as It relates to the emot1onal1y/behav1ourally
disordered youth in our school systems may not be successful.
Regular education teachers may not be prepared professlonal1y or
personally to deal wlth this very spec1al student populat1on. Th1s
study focused on teacher attitude 1n thls regard. As welll poss1ble
factors that may lead to successful 1nclusion of these students are
examined. Of these, teacher exper1ence, educat10n spec1f1c to the
d1sab111ty of emot1onal/behavloural dlsordered comb1ned w1th
teacher self-percept1on of success appear to hold the greatest
promise. In v1ew of these flndlngs, recommendations are made for
professlonal pract1ce and future research d1rect1ons.
