The perspectives of mainstream secondary school Japanese teachers towards inclusion

Abstract

Background: Disability is still a controversial topic in many nations, in part because of ongoing stigma. People with disabilities have been stigmatised throughout history as being morally unacceptable or unwell and in need of help. Before the establishment of the modern educational system in Japan in the late 19th century, people with disabilities were stigmatised as ‘useless’ and shunned by society. Since then, significant progress has been made in Japan's educational laws, most notably with the signing of the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2008 and its adoption in 2013. Although Japan strives to establish a more inclusive educational system, the reality of implementation is significantly different from what is desired on paper. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the perspectives of mainstream Japanese secondary teachers toward inclusion. Methods: This study followed a quantitative non-experimental descriptive design by employing online surveys via Qualtrics. A total of 42 teachers working at three secondary schools in the Fukushima prefecture in Japan participated in the study. The perception of teachers regarding inclusion in mainstream classrooms were explored using biographic questions (both open- and closed-ended questions) and the published Teachers’ Attitudes toward Inclusion Scale (TAIS), a 5-point Likert scale. This scale was identified following a scoping review. Data from the surveys were downloaded into Excel and were then transcribed using descriptive analysis. The data were furthermore analysed using inferential statistics, that is, the t-test and an Analysis of Covariance (ANOVA) and an f-test to determine if more than two sets of cofactors were significantly different from each other. Results: The results indicated that Japanese teachers in the Fukushima prefecture were generally not positive and were not in favour of inclusion. The majority of participants were men, held an undergraduate degree, and taught at a suburban school. Only some participants were knowledgeable regarding the inclusive education policies which Japan is trying to implement. Overall, teachers were hesitant to include children with disability in their classrooms. Teachers of an older age and with more teaching experience were the most negative with regards to inclusion. Conclusions: Even though Japan has made strides with regards to inclusive education, there is still a lot of room left for improvement of the implementation of educational policies in mainstream classrooms. Furthermore, teachers need more training at university level as well as during their pre-service years as a means to be more tolerant and accepting of children with disabilities in their classrooms. More studies need to be conducted in Asian countries especially in Japan, in order to understand the social stigma associated with disability and why teachers generally have a negative view toward inclusion compared to Western countries.