Author: Wendy H. Weber Fuchs

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13:

This qualitative study examined general education teachers' beliefs and attitudes about current mainstreaming practices. Data were collected using three methods: focus groups, individual interviews, and classroom observations. The following research questions were the basis for the interviews and observations: (1) What are teachers' beliefs and attitudes toward mainstreaming? (2) To what extent are these beliefs and attitudes congruent with their practices? and (3) To what extent are teachers' practices consistent with recommended practices for effective teaching? Data from the focus groups, individual interviews, and classroom observations were compared for consistency in the teachers' reported beliefs and attitudes. The researcher made contact three times with each of the five participants. Each teacher participated in one focus group discussion, one individual interview, and one classroom observation. As the interviewer and observer, the researcher used constant comparison analysis to ensure that the themes in this naturalistic study emerged from the data. Major themes that emerged are as follows: (1) The teachers generally agreed that teaching responsibilities and administrators' expectations of regular education teachers were unreasonable. The teachers had little formal education or training with regard to mainstreaming practices. (2) The teachers felt there was a lack of support from school administrators in the areas of inservice education and training, class size, collaboration and planning time, and shared duties with the special education staff. (3) The teachers' sense of efficacy in the classroom influenced their beliefs and attitudes about mainstreaming. They felt they were effective teachers but felt they weren't successfully educating mainstreamed students. (4) The teachers' beliefs and attitudes were generally congruent with their instructional practices. This congruency illuminated the influence of the teachers' beliefs regarding their classroom behavior. (5) Although the five participants used classroom strategies associated with "best practices," some of these teachers did not interact with the mainstreamed students in their classrooms.