A look at the current situation of Inclusive-integrated educationfrom the interface and receptive Teachers perspective

Awareness of the current situation, followed by an informed decision to continue the path or make the necessary reforms to improve the current situation is a requirement for the success of integrated-inclusive education. Therefore, the present research was conducted with the aim of providing a comprehensive picture of the current conditions of integrated-inclusive education.

In this descriptive-survey study, the opinions of 104 interface and receptive teachers of Kurdistan province about the conditions of students with special needs in regular schools, were investigated by a researcher-made questionnaire.

Findings showed that inadequate access of students with special needs to educational and rehabilitation support, inadequacy of schools physically, high number of students in classes, low use of various teaching methods and research-oriented strategies, less participation of students with special needs in various school activities, are as shortcomings of the current situation of integrated-inclusive education. Also, low participation of students with special needs or their parents in effective decisions in their life, dissatisfaction and lack of enjoyment of being in the classroom most of the time, less expectations of teachers and school staff from students with special needs, How the interface teachers works with these students are another issue of the current situation of integrated-inclusive education that needs to be corrected and revised. Some of the findings indicate acceptable points of the current situation, including that adaptations of student assessment of special needs often do not change expected standards and also the curriculum reasonably prepares students to participate in society and live with other people. In addition, students with special needs have two or three close friends in the regular classroom and school.

The results of the present study indicate that integrated-inclusive education in some aspects has a long way to go to reach the desired point, which in the end provided recommendations to improve the current situation and eliminate its shortcomings.