Preparing General Education Teachers for Inclusion

Overview & Synopsis

This paper reports the findings of a pre-experiment that investigated the effectiveness of an introductory special education course combined with a clinical experience in preparing elementary education teachers for inclusion. Twenty two elementary teacher candidates participated in the study. They responded to a questionnaire in pre-experiment and post-experiment situation. The findings support the assertion that an introductory course in special education combined with a clinical experience can be successful in the initial preparation of elementary teachers for inclusion. Despite a few threats such as experimenter bias, pre-test treatment interaction, and instrumentation, the study is significant. It has investigated a critical issue of teacher preparation surrounding inclusion. The study has a potential to contribute to the inclusion literature.