Attitudes of Italian teachers and parents toward school inclusion of students with mental retardation: The role of experience

Variables influencing the attitude of 678 teachers and 647 parents of students without disabilities toward the inclusion of students with mental retardation (MR) in ordinary classes were investigated. The attitude was measured via an adhoc questionnaire on the different aspects of inclusion. The results indicated that special education teachers were the most favorable, that school teachers with inclusion experience had a more positive attitude and, compared with teachers without such experience, were not negatively affected by age and years of service. Among parents, the most favorable were those whose children had had students with MR in their classes. It further emerged that parents with average-to-high socio-economic status and mothers were more in favor, whereas high school teachers and teachers older than 40 were less favorable and advocated greater training. The importance of experience, information, and adequate training to prevent and resolve inclusion problems is underlined.