Haku

Teachers Beliefs in Practicing Inclusive Education : Case Study of Elementary Schools in Banda Aceh

QR-koodi

Teachers Beliefs in Practicing Inclusive Education : Case Study of Elementary Schools in Banda Aceh

The purpose of this research was to explore the kind of teacher‘s beliefs in practicing inclusive education and the factors influencing teachers‘ beliefs in the practice of inclusive education in elementary schools in Banda Aceh. More specifically, the study aimed to understand how the beliefs of the teachers was formed and affected their beliefs and practice in inclusive education. The participants in this study were 6 classroom teachers (5 females and 1 male) from four different public elementary schools (Sekolah Dasar/SD) in Banda Aceh who had experience in teaching students with special needs. This research was conducted from 10 August 2016 to 11 October 2016 in four public elementary schools, such as public elementary school number 1, number 25, number 3 and number 5. The data gathered for this study were obtained from semi structured in-depth interviews. The findings indicated that the teachers‘ beliefs in practicing inclusive education in elementary schools in Banda Aceh is still low. This phenomenon was illustrated by the low level of teachers‘ self-efficacy and the lack of support from the external factors such as government support at district and national level. The low level of self-efficacy was reflected in the unwillingness of teachers to teach in inclusive classrooms that was caused by the lack of knowledge and skill to teach in an inclusive classroom. Nevertheless, the results showed that teachers hold various kinds of beliefs that helped them in practicing inclusive education, which consists of beliefs in experiences, knowledge, self-reflection and awareness, and other beliefs (beliefs in religion). First was belief in teaching experience. The teachers believed that their previous experience in teaching in regular classrooms or inclusive classrooms would help them to interact with special needs students. Second was belief in knowledge. This belief was formed by the content of knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, natural intuition and help of colleagues that the teachers have. Third was belief in self-awareness and reflection. From their reflection, teachers could elevate their awareness of their capacity in content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. Last was beliefs formed by religion. The teachers were strongly influenced by their cultural and religious background, including their beliefs in teaching. They believed the values of inclusive education were in accordance with their faith. Furthermore, the findings exhibited the lack of support from external factors that influenced the teachers‘ beliefs. The factors consisted of curriculum, grant, teachers‘ capacity development programs and school policies. The result showed the government did not set the curriculum for students with special need. The teachers used the regular curriculum for students with special needs which obviously was not suitable for them. Moreover, the grant to support the implementation of inclusive practice was not distributed evenly. Most of inclusive school did not have appropriate facilities and learning media to practice inclusive. In addition, several trainings of inclusive education that had been given to the teachers by the government also did not distribute evenly to the teachers in inclusive schools. Consequently, some schools which did not apply inclusive education would not accept students with special needs while some schools which applied inclusive education would have overcapacity or oversized classrooms with special needs students. All of those factors were not applied and developed effectively. Hence, it influenced the teachers‘ beliefs in practicing inclusive education, which became low. In conclusion, while those factors decreased the teacher‘s beliefs in practicing inclusive education, teachers held on to their beliefs in experience, knowledge, self-reflection and awareness, and other beliefs (religion).

Tallennettuna: