Revista Brasileira de Educação Especial
Print version ISSN 1413-6538
Abstract
GOMES, Claudia and BARBOSA, Altemir José Gonçalves. Inclusion of individuals with cerebral palsy in school: elementary school teachers' attitudes. Rev. bras. educ. espec. [online]. 2006, vol.12, n.01, pp.85-100. ISSN 1413-6538.
ABSTRACT Attitudes toward people with special needs represent one of the most important factors for the success of inclusive schooling. To evaluate teachers' attitudes toward the inclusion of individuals with cerebral palsy (ICP) in regular schools, a questionnaire with an attitude scale was applied to 68 elementary public schools teachers. Disagreement regarding school inclusion of ICPs was shown. A factor analysis led to identification of six factors that can explain such attitudes: how to teach ICPs in the regular classroom; teachers' feelings and emotions in the presence of ICPs; previous contact with the ICPs; the most adequate type of education for the ICPs; school achievement of classmates of an ICP; and prejudice in the classroom. Dissonance among affective, cognitive e denotative dimensions of the teachers' attitudes was noted; both disagreement and dissonance shown through this study may represent barriers to the inclusion of the ICPs in school
Keywords : Inclusion; Cerebral Palsy; Attitudes.