Attitudes of English medium school teachers in Bangladesh towards inclusive education: Challenges and possible solutions

While practicing inclusive education (IE), teachers are critical stakeholders in ensuring the active participation of all learners. Thus, this study explored primary level (grade 1-5) English -medium schoolteachers' attitudes towards IE in Bangladesh. This research was conducted in two phases. In phase-1, the Sentiments, Attitudes, Concerns regarding Inclusive Education -Revised (SACIE-R) scale was used, including some demographic questions. 120 randomly selected participants were taken as samples. The overall means of the SACIE-R score indicated that primary English-medium schoolteachers have a moderately positive attitude towards IE. It was also found that several demographic variables such as age, gender, confidence in teaching students with disabilities, and training on teaching students with disabilities had a significant impact on participants' attitudes toward IE. Two findings - regarding gender and length of training -from phase-1 were contradictory to the global trend. Moreover, teachers' concern level was found to be higher than their attitude and sentiment about IE. Interviews were conducted to understand further these uncommon results from the survey and their challenges in implementing IE and possible solutions. This study will guide educationists and policymakers to take the required initiatives to improve teachers' attitudes and empower them to implement IE in primary-level English-medium schools in Bangladesh.