ABSTRACT

Despite the presence of inclusive education policies in many countries, its implementation continues to raise concerns for many teachers. In this study, we utilised a 22-item questionnaire to assess 344 early childhood teachers’ concerns about inclusive education in the six regions in Thailand. The findings showed that limited support from school administrators, time to design educational programmes for students with disabilities and inadequate capacity in respect of therapists were perceived as hampering teachers’ ability to meet the needs of all children. One-way ANOVA indicated the impact of teachers’ geographical location, work experience and professional roles on some of the items they highlighted for concern about inclusive education. The application of a t-test also showed teachers’ concerns about some items differed between those working in private schools and those working in government schools. Results suggest that the teachers’ concerns have led to workplace stress. We conclude from the data that policies introduced to promote inclusive practices in early childhood settings in Thailand should factor in support for teachers to increase their competency and the effectiveness of inclusive practice.

摘要

尽管许多国家都制定了全纳教育政策，但其实施仍然引起了许多教师的关注。在这项研究中，我们使用了一份包含 22 项的问卷调查，评估了泰国六个地区的 344 名幼儿教师对全纳教育的担忧。调查结果表明，学校管理人员的有限支持、为残疾学生设计教育计划的时间以及治疗师能力不足被认为阻碍了教师满足所有儿童需求的能力。单向方差分析表明教师的地理位置、工作经验和专业角色对他们强调的一些关于全纳教育的关注项目的影响。t检验的应用还表明，在私立学校工作的教师和在公立学校工作的教师对某些项目的担忧有所不同。结果表明，教师的担忧导致了工作压力。我们从数据中得出结论，为促进泰国幼儿环境中的包容性实践而出台的政策应考虑支持教师提高他们的能力和包容性实践的有效性。