Attitude of Elementary School Teachers Towards Inclusive Classroom at Elementary Stage

The present study has made an attempt to find out the attitude of elementary school teachers towards inclusive classroom. Teacher’s attitude has a significant role in implementing the inclusive education in classroom.The populationof the study comprised of all the elementary teachers of Puri district. Out of this, 70 teachers were selected through incidental sampling from 20 schools of Nimapara Block of Puri district. Teachers’ attitude towards inclusive classroom was studied on the basis of three demographic variables i.e. locality, qualification and experience. The study was descriptive in nature and two tools (attitude scale and questionnaire) were used for data collection. The findings of the study revealed that (i) There is no significant difference in the attitude of rural and urban teachers towards inclusive classroom (ii) No significant difference is foundin the attitude of more qualified and less qualified teachers towards inclusive classroom and (iii)No significant difference isfoundin the attitude of more experienced and less experienced teachers towards inclusive classroom. Moreover, 90 percent teachers’ perceived inclusion is a desirable educational practice as inclusive classroom facilitates participation, encourage cooperation and enhance learning achievement of students. Only 10 percent teachers perceived inclusion negatively. The study has analysed some of the barriers to the development of successful inclusive practices and suggested the ways for overcoming these difficulties and to reconsider the roles, responsibilities and identities of teachers.