Student teachers’ perceptions about inclusive classroom teaching in Northern Ireland prior to teaching practice experience

This paper seeks to obtain the views of student teachers in Northern Ireland as to the benefits and challenges of inclusive education and the key issues that may need to be addressed to ensure they become effective teachers in an inclusive classroom. Because of the system of academic selection that has prevailed in Northern Ireland, issues relating to inclusion have been difficult to resolve mainly because principles of inclusion are at odds with existing structures. By 2008, however, academic selection is to be set aside and it would seem reasonable to believe that more inclusive practices will be adopted by all schools. Positive attitudes towards inclusion by practitioners will be essential in ensuring successful implementation. The majority of students entering Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes in Northern Ireland have been traditionally drawn from the academic grammar school sector where classroom contact with pupils who have diverse special educational needs may have been minimal. The results of this study show that while many student teachers claim to support inclusive policies, they believe that lack of appropriate preparation, concerns about class size, resources, managing other adults and coping with increasing numbers of pupils with diverse special educational needs are the key issues to be addressed within ITE in advance of the radical changes planned. Despite claiming to support inclusion, substantial numbers did not believe the removal of academic selection was the best way to ensure equality of provision for all pupils.