Teachers’ and Parents’ Perceptions of Children with Disabilities in South East Nigeria: Implications for Counselling and Inclusive Practices
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47453/edulead.v8i1.4218Keywords:
Teachers, inclusive education, children with disabilities, perceptions, parentsAbstract
Stigma, exclusion, and lack of access to good education have remained an issue to children with disabilities especially in developing regions where cultural beliefs and poor awareness play a role in the perceptions. The teacher and parent attitudes in South East Nigeria are a crucial factor that can be used to ascertain the extent to which children with disabilities will be accepted and included in their learning and social environments. The research design used was descriptive survey design where the study was carried out in South East Nigeria (Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States) to determine the perceptions of teachers and parents towards children with disabilities. Proportional stratified random sampling was used to choose a sample of 500 respondents (388 teachers and 112 parents). A validated questionnaire was used to collect data using a 4-point Likert scale. The test was tested by professionals and its reliability coefficient was 0.82. The analysis of the data was done through SPSS, means, standard deviation and t-test. The study shows that most respondents were aged 40–49 years (43.2%), followed by 30–39 years (23.2%), 20–29 years (20.8%), and 50+ years (12.8%). The majority (77.6) was teachers as opposed to parents (22.4). Most were degree holders (61.2%), while others had secondary (15.4%), primary (12.4%), and NCE (11.0%) qualifications, with more males (63.4%) than females (36.6%). The attitudes were not uniform with teachers (M = 2.12) and parents (M = 1.30) not consistent on learning ability but both concurred that learning is a stressful experience (M = 3.46; 3.38). Attitudes and beliefs showed significant differences (p <.05), and there was high stigma (M=3.36-3.46), inclusion was supported (M=3.08-3.42) and there was not a significant difference in the perceptions of stigma or inclusion (p>.05). The researchers found that despite the increasing acceptance of the idea of inclusive education, the perceptions are still influenced by the stigmatizing and misleading stereotypes. It was suggested that more efforts should be put on counselling interventions, teacher training, and awareness programmes to enhance the inclusion and support of children with disabilities.
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