Abstract:

The aim of the presented research was to find out what is the view of the educators about the difficulty and their own preparedness for the process of inclusive education. The researchers reached groups of respondents from all over the Czech Republic. All of the respondents were members of teaching staff working in the field of pre-school education or primary or secondary school education. Due to the prerequisite, teachers who studied or currently study special education and work in standard schools were excluded. The research sample consisted of 780 respondents (N=780).

To obtain the necessary data, the SACIE questionnaire was used. This questionnaire was already modified by the members of a research team within international cooperation and its Czech mutation was verified in a pilot study; the Czech mutation was identical in meaning and used the same items as the original. The standard methodology was used also in administration and statistical processing and for the analysis of parameters for factors “Increased effort and stress” and “Educational process and its management”. The results show where support and assistance for the target group should be provided, which may improve the results of inclusive education.

The data collection was carried out using the SACIE-R questionnaire, which is the latest version of this tool published in 2011 (Forlin et al. 2011). The reduced version was verified by the authors in practical research and was evaluated as functional (Forlin et al. 2011). The tool was modified according to standard procedures - translation and back translation validated the content conformity of the individual items with the original.

The SACIE-R questionnaire comprises fifteen questions chosen in a way that allows for a subsequent analysis in order to find and characterize three categories: sentiments, attitudes and concerns that significantly form the professional relationship, work efficiency and motivation of teachers who work within the conditions of inclusive education.

The administration took place in the form of "pencil-paper" during May - November 2018. Completed questionnaires, extended to include demographic data, were continuously transferred into a Microsoft Excel file. The file was then transferred to the IBM SPSS 21 program, where the data analysis was carried out. First a descriptive statistic was conducted, followed by factor analysis and the Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine the correlation of the factors.

The correlation of the factors obtained with the variable values of demographic data showed, for example:
•respondents have concerns about the presence of disabled pupils and rather disagree with these children being educated in standard schools,
•respondents who did not have any contact with individuals with disabilities (60%) feel that they are insufficiently prepared and informed, rather insecure and lack experience for pedagogical work with this target group in inclusive education,
•respondents who evaluated their professional preparedness for working with children and pupils with disabilities as insufficient also state that they do not have enough information, they do not feel confident and lack experience,
•respondents who stated that they do not have enough information about the legislation on inclusive education feel rather insecure, lack experience and do not have knowledge about the sources of information and possibility of consultations of professional support

Keywords:

Inclusive education, SAICE, support, attitudes, educational needs.