Fears towards disability and their impact on teaching practices in inclusive classrooms: An empirical study with teachers in Greece

Olga Lyra; Kyriaki Koullapi; Eirini Kalogeropoulou

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16332

Fears towards disability and their impact on teaching practices in inclusive classrooms: An empirical study with teachers in Greece

Heliyon. 2023 May 16;9(5):e16332. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16332. eCollection 2023 May.

Authors

Olga Lyra¹, Kyriaki Koullapi², Eirini Kalogeropoulou³

Affiliations

¹ Inclusive Education, School of Education and Social Sciences, Frederick University, Nicosia, Cyprus.
² School of Education and Social Sciences, Frederick University, Nicosia, Cyprus.
³ School of Education, Open University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.

Abstract

Our research examines Greek special and general education teachers' fears toward disability and their impact on teaching in inclusive classrooms. We interviewed 12 teachers from the region of Attica (Athens) and documented attitudes and beliefs toward disability, with the goal of identifying teachers' personal sources of resistance to inclusion. Medical paradigm of understanding disability and the absence of inclusive school culture are some of the results that revealed teachers' sources of resisting to inclusive changes and the way these affect their teaching. Based on these findings, we discuss a two-pronged process that shifts the existing culture of understanding disability and welcomes diversity in schools.

Keywords: Culture of disability; Fears; Inclusive education; Mental models; Resistance to change; Teachers.