Inclusive Education

The Sensory Classroom Teacher Questionnaire (SCTQ) is a psycho-educational tool designed to empower teachers in creating sensory-rich, inclusive environments that promote diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusivity through the application of sensory ergonomics. Unlike other tools that focus on isolated strategies, the SCTQ takes a holistic approach by optimizing the overall classroom environment to meet the sensory and ergonomic needs of learners, particularly those with ADHD and sensory integration/processing challenges. This makes the SCTQ especially vital in diverse and under-resourced quintile schools, where creating sensory-optimized, inclusive environments is essential for fostering equitable learning experiences. By addressing sensory needs through thoughtful classroom design, the SCTQ not only strengthens learners’ cognitive development and socio-emotional well-being but also improves behavior regulation, physical comfort, and overall functioning. This manuscript is part of a larger exploratory mixed-methods study that validated the SCTQ using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Here, the focus is on the qualitative aspect, utilizing thematic analysis to explore data from 23 focus group interviews with 88 Grade 1, 2, and 3 teachers from various Quintile 1–5 schools in Gauteng, South Africa. Guided by the enactivism paradigm, the study emphasizes the crucial role teachers play in creating and adapting sensory environments. Their insights were key to refining the SCTQ, ensuring it is practical, developmentally appropriate, culturally, linguistically, contextually, and socio-economically relevant. Developed through collaboration among researchers, specialists, and teachers, the SCTQ supports sensory ergonomic practices, raises awareness of ADHD and sensory integration/processing challenges, and supports both learners’ potential and teachers’ well-being, contributing to a more sustainable and positive educational experience.

The social inclusion of learners with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools has been a dominant discourse in global education and academic research. Concerns have been raised globally, and in England, that learners with SEN underachieve compared with non-SEN learners. Studies have linked challenges faced by learners with SEN to inadequate training of teachers, delayed intervention and the lack of clarity in educational policies relating to learners with SEN. This paper draws on Carol Bacchi's (2009) ‘What is the Problem Represented to be’ (WPR) framework to analyse 10 policy documents relating to the education of learners with SEN in mainstream schools in England. This analysis aims to identify ‘problems’, tensions and gaps in educational policies relating to learners with SEN and to establish the effectiveness of these policies in addressing the social inclusion of learners with SEN in mainstream schools. The analysis revealed that the educational policies create ‘problems’ for learners with SEN due to their outcomes-focused approach. There is little consideration given to inclusive education and the social inclusion of learners with SEN in mainstream schools. This paper argues that for successful social inclusion of learners with SEN, policies must prioritise empowering teachers to effectively promote inclusive education.

This study examined teachers' concerns about including students with disabilities (SWDs) in regular classrooms and identified the background variables that were significantly associated with their concerns. A total of 1008 primary school teachers from 236 schools across all 25 provinces and cities in Cambodia participated in the study. The Concern about Inclusive Education Scale (CIES) was used as a research instrument. Descriptive statistics, a principal component analysis, reliability tests, Pearson correlation coefficients and a multiple regression analysis were used for data analysis. The result of the principal component analysis confirmed a four-factor model for the CIES. The study found that Cambodian teachers had high levels of concern about including SWDs in regular classrooms. They expressed the deepest concerns about the inadequate availability of special education instructional materials and teaching aids, the lack of knowledge and skills required to teach SWDs, the increased workloads and the challenges of providing equal attention to all students. The experience of inclusive education training, years of teaching in regular classrooms, and experience of teaching SWDs were significantly associated with their concerns about inclusion. The findings were discussed with practical implications for improved policy and practice to address Cambodian teachers' concerns and promote their inclusive practices.

Attitudes have gained much attention for supporting the successful implementation of inclusive education. There is evidence that students' attitudes towards joint lessons with students with special educational needs (SEN) affect peer relations in classrooms. But much less is currently known about the relationships between teachers' and students' attitudes and their effects on inclusive processes. This paper draws on social referencing theory to frame how teachers may affect students' attitudes. It postulates that students' attitudes towards peers with SEN and inclusive practices are affected by their teachers' attitudes towards students with SEN and inclusive practices. It also examines how teachers' and students' attitudes relate to classroom climate and social integration. Using a sample of 1.365 German 6th and 7th graders from 64 classes, we run a series of multilevel path models to investigate relationships between teachers' and students' attitudes with social integration and classroom climate. Attitudes are differentiated by a cognitive and affective facet and by whether they relate to students with emotional–social difficulties (SEN-ESD) or learning difficulties. Results show social referencing for cognitive attitudes towards inclusive practices for students with SEN-ESD. Results also indicate that teachers' cognitive attitudes and students' affective attitudes directly affect social integration and classroom climate.

Background: Education systems on an international basis have experienced an increase of neurodiverse students in mainstream schools. Such students can experience a deficit in school connectedness which restricts inclusive participation. In My Shoes is an intervention programme developed in Australia to support the inclusion of pupils with autism in primary school settings. This study aimed to adapt this programme for delivery in UK primary schools and widen it to encompass all neurodiverse pupils. Methods: Focus groups of key stakeholders (Pupils, Parents, Teachers and Senior Leaders) explored and shared perspectives on the In My Shoes programme with regard to adapting and refining it for delivery in UK primary schools. Focus group data were analysed using a thematic approach. Results: Five themes emerged from the data focusing upon materials, curriculum, context, duration, and whole-school approach. Linking the intervention to the PSHE curriculum for delivery was a key finding. Conclusions: All key stakeholder groups found the programme beneficial to school connectedness and participation. They contributed to adaptations necessary to widen intervention to encompass all neurodiverse children and for deployment in UK primary schools. The biggest endorsement came from the pupil groups that were most enthusiastic about the intervention, who demonstrated an understanding and a relation to the concepts of the programme. Following revisions to the materials and adaptations suggested by stakeholders, a small feasibility study will be conducted with neurodiverse pupils and their typically developing peers across mainstream year 4 and year 5 classrooms (age 8-10 year olds) in the UK.

At present, developmental dyslexia is classified as a specific language disorder recognised by inclusive educational laws in Spain and the United Kingdom. Phonological correspondence is very different in Spanish and in English, and the difficulties they entail for native speakers are also different. The predominance of English worldwide has led to the establishment of bilingual Spanish–English educational programs in Spain in ESL or bilingual Spanish–English learning environments. Students with dyslexia face greater challenges than their classmates. A comparative study of British and Spanish students with dyslexia that uses a quantitative methodology, and a pre-experimental ex post facto design was carried out to detect the specific linguistic problems they faced in learning their respective languages, with the objective of using the results to help foreign language teachers in Spain. The sample consisted of 29 Spanish students and 19 British. The findings show that native students from United Kingdom have specific difficulties in phonological processing and grapheme-phoneme correspondence. Native Spanish students enrolled in foreign language programmes seem to have similar difficulties. To ensure the effectiveness of present-day inclusive education laws in Spain, the knowledge acquired regarding the specific language-related literacy problems of students with dyslexia must be incorporated to the current foreign language programmes.