Greeks Primary Students’ Attitudes Concerning the Inclusion of Special Educational Needs Students in the Mainstream School

Abstract

The current study was conducted in order to examine primary general education children attitudes toward the inclusion of their peers with special educational needs and to identify the factors that affect their attitudes. The sample consisted of 1066 primary mainstream students, who completed the “Attitudes toward inclusion scale” (Gash, 1993; Gash & Coffey, 1995; Gash, 1996). The results showed that children are adopting the act of being sociable to special needs students and liking to meet and spend time with them. Concerning the total integration in the general education,a great part of students, are disposed in a positive but typical way to be co-educated in the same school environment with their peers with disabilities. The research, pointed out the need to focus on the study of social interactions between typically developing students’ attitudes and their special needs peers.