Teacher attitudes and the emotionally-behaviourally disordered middle school student

Inclusionary practices prescribe that chl1dren, regardless of exceptional1ty shall benef1t from receiv1ng educational serv1ce 1n the context of the regular class sett1ng. The result1ng el1minat1on of separate spec1al classes could be v1ewed as an econom1c advantage. In point of fact, many school boards and d1str1cts 1n both Canada and the United States are mov1ng towards 1mplementat1on of inclusionary practice, possibly for the above stated reason. Regardless, 1nclusion as 1t relates to the emot1onally/behav1ourally disordered youth in our school systems may not be successful. Regular educat ion teachers may not be prepared profess1onally or personally to deal w1th this very special student population. Th1s study focused on teacher attitude 1n this regard. As well, poss1ble factors that may lead to successful 1nclusion of these students are examined. Of these, teacher exper1ence, educat10n spec1f1c to the d1sab1l1ty of emot1onal/behavioural d1sordered comb1ned w1th teacher self-perception of success appear to hold the greatest promise. In view of these findings, recommendat1ons are made for professional pract1ce and future research d1rect1ons.