Education for all in the North and the South: Teachers' Attitudes Towards Inclusive Education in Finland and Zambia

Abstract

A survey assessed attitudes of 1636 Zambian and Finnish teachers towards inclusive education and consequently the perceptions of appropriate educational environment for children with different disabilities. On the whole, attitudes varied but were quite critical. Structure of the attitudes was similar in both countries; factor analyses extracted four attitude dimensions: 1) social justice, 2) meeting special needs of students with severe disabilities, 3) teachers' competence, and 4) quality of education for non-disabled students. On inclusion in general, the Finnish ordinary teachers were the most critical group and the Finnish special education teachers the most optimistic. Most respondents felt that inclusive education enhances social justice. However, pursuit of inclusion in practice, especially the guarantee of good and effective education for all, was seen as problematic. Compared to Finnish respondents, the Zambian respondents preferred a more segregated educational environment for children with different disabilities. Type and severity of disability affected the preferred educational setting and there were clear differences in this regard between respondents from the two countries. Findings support the idea that teachers' attitudes towards inclusion are important in developing inclusive school systems and that inclusive education is best understood as a multi-dimensional concept, which, at the practical level, is highly context-dependent.