No child left behind: An investigation into teachers’ attitudes toward including students with SEN in secondary inclusive classroom

Over the past decade, the Hong Kong education sector has gradually implemented certain policies and practices so as to cater for students’ diverse needs. Attention and awareness have been raised apparently in schools and classrooms to take care of student diversity since inclusion becomes more prevalent in classrooms in Hong Kong. The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of regular secondary school teachers regarding inclusive education, in a Direct Subsidy School, located in Yau Tsim Mong District. A questionnaire was distributed (N=40) to examine teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion in which three teachers were randomly invited to take an in-depth interview to identify the challenges they were facing and adapted strategies in inclusive classrooms. The major findings revealed that younger (less than 30 years old) and less-experienced (less than 5 years) teachers tended to hold more positive attitudes in teaching students with special education needs (SEN). In addition, there were significant differences in positive attitudes related to age and teaching experiences. In-service inclusive training was strongly suggested by teachers in order to enhance their confidence and abilities in teaching students with SEN and coping with their behavioral problems appropriately.