Does Inclusive Education Change Teachers’ Educational Goals? A Comparative Analysis of Two Cross-sectional Surveys in Austria

Abstract

This study analyses whether an increasing inclusion rate in Austria was accompanied by a change in teachers’ educational goals and whether these goals were different for teachers in inclusive or non-inclusive settings. Educational goals were rated by 359 teachers in 1998 and 219 teachers in 2009. General pedagogical goals, as well as orientation on authority and discipline are considered less important by primary school teachers in inclusive classes than by those in schools without inclusion. The attitudes of teachers towards inclusion and teachers’ estimates of the impact of inclusion of students with different types of disabilities were not correlated in 1998, but positively correlated in 2009 with the emphasis on the individuality of the students in the class, and not correlated in 1998, but negatively correlated in 2009 with the orientation on authority and discipline. It is concluded that a positive change can be observed.