READINESS OF ELEMENTARY TEACHERS IN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Abstract

Inclusive education is an education program for students with special education needs (SEN) who can learn alongside mainstream students. It is important for elementary school teachers to master the aspects of knowledge and skills in implementing inclusive education. The level of teachers’ readiness in implementing inclusive education, especially elementary school teachers is the main indicator that will determine the success of inclusive education. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the readiness level of elementary school teachers in implementing inclusive education. The readiness level involves aspects of knowledge, skills and attitude towards inclusive education. This study was conducted in quantitative survey research form. It was used to collect responses from 103 elementary school mathematics teachers in one of the districts in Negeri Sembilan. The data collected was analysed using the Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) version 27 to obtain the mean score and standard deviation for the three variables and the ANOVA test to identify the effect size among the aspects studied. The test analysis showed significant differences between the aspects of knowledge, skills and attitude. Post hoc test had showed aspect of attitude have more impact towards inclusive education. The implication of this study suggests that the elementary school teachers’ readiness level in inclusive education in the aspects of attitude is important to provide an obstacle-free learning environment for students with special needs.