ATTITUDES OF GREEK PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS TOWARDS INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES

Over the last decade the idea of inclusion of students with disabilities and special educational needs (SEN) in general schools has become increasingly the focus of national and international policies. Inclusive education has also made enormous progress in Greece recently. The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of Physical Educators toward the inclusion of students with disabilities and SEN in general Physical Education (PE) classes and to compare them with those teachers who taught the course of Olympic/Paralympic Education (O/PE) as well as examine gender differences. Four hundred and ten PE teachers (200 male and 210 female) of an average age of 33.58 years from different prefectures of Greece completed a modified version of the questionnaire "Attitudes toward Teaching Individuals with Physical Disabilities in Physical Education" (ATIPDPE) of Kudlacek et al (2002). Two-way ANOVA was used to analyze the data. The results revealed positive attitudes of all teachers toward teaching students with disabilities and SEN in PE classes; however, there were no significant differences between those who taught different type of PE courses as well as between males and females. It is strongly suggested an ongoing assessment should examine the changes in education of students with disabilities and SEN and their inclusion in the general schools and how. (Contains 9 tables.)