Teachers’ Attitudes Towards inclusive Education in Austria

The study reports the results of several empirical studies on teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusion of pupils with special education needs in different academic settings. The survey’s data sets of altogether 578 primary school teachers in Austria, queried in 1998 and 2009, were reanalyzed. The chosen instrument of investigation was Reicher’s scale “Einstellung zur Integration in der Schule (EIS) [attitudes towards inclusion in school]“ (1988). Concerning reliability and factorial structure, the scale fulfills the requirements which an instrument of investigation has to achieve. With regards to content, the analysis of the data showed that teachers evaluate the inclusion of pupils with mental retardation as a greater challenge than the inclusion of pupils with physical or learning disabilities. With reference to the general attitude towards academic inclusion, there were no differences between primary school teachers and special education teachers. However, the results revealed a moderate effect of the field of work the respondents were engaged in. Teachers working in inclusive fields declare a more positive attitude towards academic inclusion than teachers in non-inclusive settings, disregarding the type of disability.