Abstract:
This study examined views of pre-service teachers on their preparation towards
inclusive education in selected Colleges of Education in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
This was premised on the argument that teacher preparation is a key consideration in
the implementation of inclusive education. The self-efficacy theory was adopted for the
study. The study employed the cross-sectional design to recruit 287 respondents made
up of 272 level 300 pre-service teachers and 15 tutors for the study. In selecting the
sample, the researcher used non-probability sampling involving quota sampling
technique to select 20% of the pre-service teachers, while a purposive sampling
technique was adopted for the selection of tutors in the Colleges of Education. Data
from questionnaire were fed into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version
22.0 software and the mean scores were computed and used for the analysis and
interpretation. The results of the study showed that the pre-service teachers had
demonstrable knowledge of inclusive education, but there were mixed reactions to their
ability to adapt the curriculum to meet the learning needs of diverse learners in inclusive
classrooms. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that the
curriculum for the Colleges of Education should be reviewed to ensure that pre-service
teachers have the necessary skills attitudes, confidence and competence to design and
deliver inclusive curricular for a diverse range of learners to improve their participation
in learning.
Description:
A Thesis in the Department of Special Education, Faculty of
Educational Studies, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Special Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
DECEMBER, 2019