Teachers’ Attitude towards Inclusive Education: The Case of Algerian Middle School Teachers of English

Students with special educational needs have largely been marginalised from regular schools. As the 1900s drew to a close, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act put an end to child segregation from regular schools as an attempt to prevailing equity amongst students and promoting individual differences. Accordingly, disabled students started studying alongside their same-age peers in regular schools. This step requires from teachers to renew their teaching methods and differentiate instruction to meet all students’ needs. Inclusive Education is a teaching approach which considers students’ diverse needs and works on meeting those needs through differentiating instruction. This study aims to explore teachers’ readiness to differentiate instruction to embrace students’ needs and bypass problems associated with disabled students. Methodologically, a qualitative study was carried out principally focusing on a survey and focus group. A sample of 74 in-service middle school teachers of English was chosen as an attempt to provide a more comprehensive picture of their readiness and attitude towards the integration of inclusive education in English courses at middle schools. Ultimately, the analysis of the findings indicated that middle school teachers are ready to integrate inclusive education in their classes as a useful input to meet students’ diverse needs.


Statement of the Problem
Notwithstanding the revolutionary pedagogical changes that affected the teaching practices in the Algerian schools over the past decades, teaching students with different needs, learning styles, preferences, backgrounds, etc. is still construed as an arduous task on the part of the teachers, both novice and veteran ones. There is an increasing awareness that students who are allied with different needs populate today's classrooms. This heterogeneity necessitates the establishment of inclusive classrooms, so that students' differences and needs could be accommodated. The main aim of Inclusive Education (IE) is to provide equal chances to students no matter if they do not share enough commonality, celebrate their individual differences, and meet their various needs. Essentially, its most salient concern is to amalgamate students of diverse needs inside one classroom where differences are regarded as an ordinary aspect that shapes up individuality.
It is quite noteworthy to state that effective inclusion primarily depends on teachers who are required to show competence in dealing with students' heterogeneity. In this regard, Goree (1996) argues that effective inclusion is achieved when "the classroom teachers are well trained in dealing with the many and varied student needs, provided with resource personnel; and given time to plan" (p. 22). Likewise, Florian and Pantić (2017) declare that teaching students with different needs and accepting their differences necessitates from teachers to be well trained. This claim ensures the fundamentally important role of teachers in setting up new approaches that support diversity with less encountered problems (p. 12). Accordingly, integrating IE seems to be less of an issue than getting teachers well prepared to teach in inclusive settings.
was headed by the Scandinavian countries about 40 years ago when impaired persons' life started being recognised and accepted in social life. By the 1960s and 1970s, the second event took place in the USA. The aim behind this event was twofold. First, it called upon all races' right of belonging, acceptance and equity. Second, 'the passage of the Education of All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 claimed for the right of handicapped students to be taught in regular schools alongside their same-age peers. In June 1994, the third event entitled the 'Salamanca Statement' was organised with the presence of 92 governments and 25 international organisations, which all agreed upon the dire need to adhere to IE (Mitchell, 2008, p. 28). The importance of this statement is well merited since it was the first international conference to give considerable importance to human rights, in general, and to the acceptance and appreciation of students' various needs in regular schools, in particular (Ainscow, 1999, p. 147). IE is gaining momentum across different countries of the world. It saw its heyday through the Salamanca conference in which Special Educational Needs (SEN) were at issue. The conference was held by the UNESCO World conference in Spain, in 1994(Ainscow, 1999. Historically speaking, during the 1960s, many countries (especially the Nordic nations) started the implementation of IE in their schools where disabled students were privileged to study alongside their same-age peers in the same classroom (UNESCO, 2001, p. 22). Another attempt of integrating inclusion in schools took place in North America during the 1980s. Meanwhile, Canadian countries crafted programmes that are mostly geared towards including students with (SEN) in regular schools (Aefsky, 1995, cited in Topping & Maloney, 2005. Moving to the UK, it is about the 1990 that IE received an enormous amount of attention through conferences aiming at raising awareness of its significant importance (Hall, 1996, cited in Topping & Maloney, 2005).
1.1.1 Inclusive Education: Education for All IE is surrounded by many conceptualisations. One way of perceiving it is that "… it aims to encourage schools to reconsider their structure, teaching approaches, pupil grouping and use of support so that the school responds to the perceived needs of all its pupils" (Farrell, 2006, p. 12;Westwood, 1993, p. 190). Clearly, IE concerns itself with "… educating more pupils in mainstream schools and fewer (or none) in special schools and other venues regarded as segregating" (Farrell, 2006, p. 12). That is, there is a shift in thinking about providing equal chances to all students no matter if they do not share enough commonality instead of excluding students with learning difficulties. According to UNESCO (2001), the 'Education for All movement' (EFA) rests on the belief that all students have the right to be equally educated within the same context (p. 17). When rigorously working on accepting and respecting students' diversity, this will, in return, lead to creating an appealing learning environment.
The most expedient option to approach EFA is to promote teacher trainings. In so doing, student segregation would be phased out and, in return, teachers would work to cater to the needs, differences, and learning style of every student. Planning lessons should consider all these variables. Teachers are asked to plan for the whole instead of some in respect to the fact that the classrooms life is based on the interaction and cooperation between its different members. One way of effectively addressing students' diversity without focusing on special differences and learning difficulties is to take specialists' knowledge as a resource that changes learning from a support to some to an education for all. In so doing, schools would be a place for the core values mentioned in the social justice agenda for education mainly justice, equity, respect for differences, interests, needs and preferences, and of course a support for everyone's abilities (Florian & Pantić, 2017, p. 16).
Significantly, prevailing the EFA stance in the Algerian schools cannot be achieved overnight. It is true that many countries are working on addressing IE in their schools as a basic platform for EFA. However, as noticed in Asia and South Africa, this move is surrounded by many impediments, such as teachers' attitude, disregarding students' disabilities, lack of materials, shortage of supportive pedagogies, lack of adequate teachers' training on how to successfully implement IE, lack of clear understanding of the notion IE, traditional-oriented large classes, static teaching strategies and methods, absence of parental support, etc. (Mitchell, 2008, p. 28). Although the synergy of all the aforementioned components is essential for EFA to be skyrocketed, teachers' attitude towards students remains the very foundation of maintaining EFA.

Differentiated Instruction
IE is an approach of teaching which underpins an array of strategies. Differentiated Instruction (DI) is one significantly predominant strategy that teachers need to opt for if their classrooms are to be effective and, most importantly, inclusive enough. Responding to students' needs, interests, differences or learning difficulties necessitates flexible planning of lessons. That is, DI is one way of addressing diversity in the classroom (Stainback, Stainback & Stefanich, 1996cited in Westwood, 1993. One way of reaching this flexibility is to make use of the available teaching materials and resources, the adaptation of the most suitable teaching approaches, and differentiating instruction in respect to students' styles of learning. In so doing, students' differences and needs will be accommodated (Sebba & Ainscow, 1996cited in Westwood, 1993. The most salient concern of DI is flexibility and equity inside and outside the classroom. It strives earnestly at accommodating the needs of all types of students, be them gifted or less able, normal or disabled (Westwood, 1993, p. 192). Key to doing so is to differentiate the curriculum at the level of the content, process, and product.
Differentiating content is concerned mainly with the way teachers display knowledge so that students can fully grasp what they are supposed to learn. It is the way teachers convey meaning and how students get to comprehend this meaning (Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010, p. 15). A lucid example given by Tomlinson and Eidson (2003) is when teaching 'time' to students. Some students may show high levels of performance when it comes to telling time while other can even have a deficiency in using numbers correctly. In such a case, teachers should differentiate the teaching strategies, materials, skills and attitude for those students who differ in the level of readiness. If not, the learning process will miserably backfire on teachers (p. 10). In this regard, Tomlinson and McTighe (2006) assert that "… the best-laid plans of the best teachers are just that-plans, subject to change" (p. 13). Tomlinson & McTighe (2006) go far as to suggest that the teachers' changes and modifications are generally at the level of the teaching strategies and materials, the attitude towards students' needs and interests, skills and plans, and degree of difficulty instead of the content itself. Students are required to learn the same content differently (p. 158).
Differentiation at the level of process has mainly to with the activities designed for students to get successful access to the content. Tomlinson and Imbeau (2010) advocate that the use of the term activity to refer to the process of differentiating the content can be misleading. Not all activities can address the students' needs and the required outcomes from the content. Henceforth, it is better to use 'sense-making activities' to imply that they gratify students' needs in learning and help them 'own the content' through its alignment, meaningfulness, and usefulness, not only within the school-based boundaries, but also in the real-world (p. 15).
Differentiating the product implies what students acquired as new input and are able to perform after a certain period of learning. Products can be displayed through group work projects, brochures, providing solution to real-life problems, tests, homework, etc. Beneficial products usually push students to think critically when applying what they learnt, the thing that would, ultimately, expand their knowledge (Tomlinson, 1999, p. 11;Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010, pp. 15-16).
Research Questions: RQ1: What is the attitude of middle school teachers towards the adoption of inclusive education in the Algerian schools?
RQ2: To what extent middle school teachers are ready to work in inclusive contexts that include disabled students?
Null Hypothesis: Middle school teachers have negative attitude towards the implementation of IE in the Algerian schools.

The Purpose and Significance of the Study
Implementing IE is one best way to ensure the accommodation of students' needs in regular schools. It underpins different teaching techniques and procedures that are in favour of the student-centered stance instead of the old-fashioned methods of teaching whereby students are usually rendered disengaged. DI is one key strategy which works as a precursor for engaging all students in the learning process despite their different learning styles, interests, learning difficulties, needs, etc. When differentiating instruction, students will, in one way or another, find what arouses their interest and henceforth boosts their engagement levels. Of course, teachers' role in the integration of IE is crucially fundamental. They ought to be well prepared to deal with students' diversity. Henceforth, this research explores Algerian middle school teachers' attitude towards the implementation of IE in their classrooms. It endeavours to get in-depth insights about teachers' readiness level to differentiate instruction to cater to the needs of their students. This study helps Algerian middle school teachers to conjure up a plausible idea about the significant importance of IE on responding to students' needs. This study is, by all means, considered beneficial for administrators and syllabus designers, too. It enlightens them about the different needs of students so that sufficient materials and activities that go hand in hand with students' diverse needs and interests are planned.

Limitations and Delimitations of the Study
This study has certain limitations that need to be noted. First, the researchers tried to make the sample as larger as possible to ensure obtaining more reliable and valid data, but attending other seminars was rather impossible because of distance issues. Second, the researchers could have visited the interviewed teachers for observing them and see whether or not they consider their students' needs when planning and delivering lessons. The majority of teachers, however, refused to be observed. Another limitation that is worth mentioning is focusing on one inclusive strategy which may account for some discrepancies. Other researches may tackle other inclusive strategies that make lessons more accessible for students with different needs and learning difficulties.

Participants
Data were collected from 10 middle schools in Mila province forming a sample of 74 teachers of English. Instead of moving from one school to another, the researcher took advantage over a seminar headed by the inspectress where participants were all gathered. The sample comprises 52 females and 22 males. They were selected following the non-probability sampling. The schools were chosen based on the accessibility and the presence of students with learning difficulties.

Instruments
In order to gather the necessitated data, the researchers opted for the following data collection tools:

The Teacher Attitude to Inclusion Scale (TAIS)
The scale is composed of 10 items ranging from 'strongly agree' to 'strongly disagree'. The scale was designed mainly for the aim of investigating pre/in-service teachers' attitude (in-service middle school teachers in our case) towards including students with learning difficulties in mainstream schools as stated in the Salamanca statement of UNESCO (Salovita, 2015, p. 2). In addition, it strives to explore teachers' preparedness to teach in inclusive contexts in respect to their attitude. Teachers were given the instructions on how to complete the scale and to ask any question if ever they are in doubt. Completing the scale lasted for 15-20 minutes.

Focus Group
In order to ensure the truthfulness of respondents' answers, the researcher deemed it necessary to interview the participants. It was also used for its potential in validating the survey results. The same sample was interviewed for half an hour after the seminar is finished. The focus group was a kind of group discussion where the interviewer asked questions and the interviewees responded. Triangulation was opted for in this study as a means of ensuring validity.

Procedures
This study attempted to get a thorough investigation of middle school teachers' attitude towards the implementation of IE in the Algerian schools. The sample of the study was selected based on the non-probability sampling technique. Female participants outnumbered male participants.
Data were collected in a seminar of middle school teachers of English in Mila Province after granting the inspector's permission to distribute the questionnaire (TAIS), and to have from half to one hour for the focus group after the seminar is finished. Time was carefully considered so that it does not tarnish the results. Of course, the teachers were told in advance that participation is voluntary that they had the freedom to participate or to object not to participate. Fortunately, all the teachers responded to the survey and took part in the focus group, as well. Instead of moving from one school to another, the required data were gathered all at once.

Research Design
According to Blaikie (2000) a research design is a set of well-organised technical decisions used when conducting a research project. These decisions are generally anticipated beforehand and made in line with the research project (p. 21).
Alternatively, the design of this research is qualitatively-oriented. The qualitative approach is "… broadly used to describe what can be counted and measured and can therefore be considered objective" (Wallace, 1998, p. 38) mainly to get insights about how ready middle school teachers are to integrate inclusive education in their classrooms. Furthermore, it is used to answer the research questions through examining teachers' preparedness.
This study used the collective case study (more than one middle school are involved in this research) which demands the study of more than one case study to investigate a unique phenomenon, particular population, group, school, etc. (Wallace, 1998, p. 161). It is presumably believed that the study of different case studies instead of one would supply researchers with more reliable, valid, and comprehensive findings about a specific phenomenon.

Results and Discussion
In this section, the obtained data are analysed for the sake of answering the research questions and examining the null hypothesis.

Analysis and Discussion of the TAIS
The descriptive data gathered from the survey provided insightful feedback regarding the teachers' attitude and beliefs about IE and students with SEN. The results obtained from the survey were also analysed in terms of frequency and percentages.

Expected Outcomes
The majority of teachers (68,92 %) believe that all students have the right to be educated in regular schools no matter if they do not share enough commonality. Depriving students from their right to be educated in regular schools would seem unfair and inadequate especially at this time and age where technology and teaching facilities are almost at everyone's disposal. Discriminating students from their peers would lower their social and cognitive skills as well as their self-confidence. Students with SEN can also be educated and supported in regular schools effectively. Surely enough, students' placement from special schooling to normal one should be allied with a bulk of strategies that support students and, at the same time, facilitate the work for teachers. The latter ought to show high levels of competency related to knowledge about inclusion. This can be easily achieved through extensive teacher trainings.

Rights of the Child
Due to the lack of the suitable funding that support the inclusion of students with SEN, 59,46 % of middle school teachers see it reasonable enough that disabled students receive special schooling where specialists take care of their needs, let alone the different teaching materials that would better the transmission of knowledge. Placing disabled students to regular schools would, in return, make teaching/learning a daunting and challenging task for both teachers and learners. First, SEN students consistently need time and guidance on the part of the teacher the thing that can never happen in regular schools where teachers are provided with heavy programmes, three hours a week, and very limited teaching materials and aids. For instance, disabled students need hours for face-to-face talk whereby teachers can understand their needs and struggles, and try to psychologically prepare them for the classroom life before including them in the classrooms where they will have to interact with more than forty classmates. Second, teachers at special schools are generally specialists who are well-prepared to deal with students' disabilities. Contrariwise, teachers at regular schools were not trained to deal with learners' disabilities. This would add much work to teachers.

Workload of the Teacher
In this regard, a high rate of the participants (41,90 %) claimed the huge workload they would receive if ever disabled students are placed in regular schools. This is mainly attributed to the luck of the enabling conditions starting from trainings on IE to the teaching programmes, luck of aids and suitable teaching materials. The amount of the allocated time to the English language at the Algerian schools is also considered insufficient. Two or three hours a week are often considered not enough to finishing the school programme. Clearly enough, when teachers work under unmanageable and uncomfortable circumstances this would eventually affect their progress. You cannot get the best out of a stressful and a tiresome teacher. Reducing the amount of working hours and the number of students in classrooms which generally swings from 40 to 47 can be regarded as a good starting point towards the effective inclusion of disabled students.

Inclusion as a Value
Further, 51,35 % of teachers proclaim the effectiveness of including students with behavioural and emotional problems in regular schools. It helps in minimizing social segregation and paves the way to social inclusion which works on diminishing behavioural and emotional-related problems. Including students with SEN in the social life of regular schools lowers the social barriers and helps students to be active members in the classroom through participation and engagement in the learning process. This would ultimately result in a sense of belonging regardless students' disabilities. However, this can only made possible if teachers are well-equipped with the utmost suitable provisions that suit all students' needs and interests. Most importantly, a percentage of 43,24 % of teachers' reported a positive attitude towards the inclusion of students with SEN in regular schools which is considered a positive sign towards the establishment of IE at the Algerian schools. As can be noticed from Table 1, the majority of respondents do agree that children have the right of normal schooling regardless of their individual differences. Besides, participants showed their willingness to install inclusive education in their classrooms albeit the workload they have. Of course, they expressed their dire need for appropriate provisions that would facilitate their job.

Analysis and Discussion of the Focus Group Results
The obtained data were analysed in relation to the grounded theory methodology using the "Constant Comparisons" process. In constant comparison, data are analysed in terms of similarities and differences. Similar data are gathered and grouped under one heading or core theme to be discussed in terms of its properties (Strauss & Corbin, 2015, p. 29). Constant comparisons analytic process was used on the basis that it "… enables researchers to check and recheck the meanings they have assigned to data against incoming data" (Corbin & Strauss, 2015, p. 73). The use of constant comparisons led to the emergence of three core themes as presented in Table 2. Interviewees and students with SEN.
Interviewees' understanding to IE.
Interviewees' attitude and preparedness to work in inclusive contexts.
Note. SEN = Special Educational Needs; IE = Inclusive Education.
Theme 1: Interviewees and students with SEN.
Almost all classrooms include students with SEN. Disabilities like autism, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders are abundantly encountered. Many teachers said this kind of students should receive special schooling where they receive the adequate support.
"In regular schools, students are usually struggling with understanding the lessons and teachers are always in a hurry to finish the programme. I am quite sure if, amidst these schooling conditions, disabled students are taught in regular schools, they would fail miserably. For disabled students to benefit maximally, they should be taught in supporting contexts which consider their disabilities." Revolutionary pedagogical implications are necessarily needed if our schools are to be effective and inclusive enough.
A profound comprehension to what inclusion is really about is mandatory to the effective adoption of IE. It was not surprising to figure out that many teachers do not have a comprehensive idea about what IE is. Some confuse it with the term integration while others think it has to do with student-centeredness which is somewhat a close idea.
"… mmm I think it has to do with the integration of learners in the learning process and to give them the chance to control their own learning. In teacher-centered classrooms, the learners' role tends to be deemphasised whereas in student-centered classrooms students are active and highly engaged".

"I think I have no sufficient information about what does the term inclusive education mean!"
"To the best of my knowledge, inclusive education is about the various teaching techniques and strategies used in the lesson. This variation is usually opted for to meet the needs of learners and accommodate their learning styles. You know that learners learn differently. One good way with one child might not work well with another child".
To implement IE, teachers should first conjure up a plausible idea about the concept itself. Key to doing so is to organise more trainings on how IE.
Theme 3: Interviewees' attitude and preparedness to work in inclusive contexts.
The data gained from this theme aligns with the respondents' answers in the survey. When asked whether they are ready to work in an inclusive context with disabled students, they said they are not well-prepared to handle inclusive situations. Working with slow, autistic, visually impaired students and students with attention deficit /hyperactive disorder is a daunting challenge that continually puts teachers at a distress.
"… sometimes I feel myself struggling when teaching the less-able learners. Including disabled students in regular schools would do nothing but worsen the situation. Before placing students to normal schools, I think many changes should first take place. If not, both students and teachers would suffer." They confirmed the fact that they find difficulties in accommodating the needs of students with learning difficulties, let alone the increased workload they face. The results demonstrated that the more teachers receive trainings on how to adequately adapt inclusive education, the fewer problems with SEN students would appear.

Conclusion
One of the fundamental objectives of this study is to sensitise Algerian middle school teachers of English with the benefits of IE in accommodating disabled students' needs. After discussing the findings gathered from in-service teachers, a positive attitude was marked. Notwithstanding teachers believe that disabled students have the right to be educated alongside their same age peers in normal schools, they emphasised their incompetency in dealing with this kind of students. Based on the obtained results which show the indispensability of inclusion competence in maintaining effective inclusive classrooms, teachers do believe that having disabled students in regular schools necessitate the documentation of competencies related to knowledge about learners' needs and disabilities, classroom environments and instructional strategies, inclusion and individualised instruction, learning difficulties, etc. Henceforth, the respondents subjected to the study reported the need to specific preparation (trainings, conferences, workshops, and seminars) on how to adeptly implement IE in the Algerian middle schools. Accordingly, the Ministry of National Education is recommended to provide continuous assistance and supply teachers with suitable materials and provisions which would ease their job and retool the Algerian educational system. Not only this, but it should also provide adequate funding to schools. Additionally, more time should be allocated for the teaching of English at the Algerian schools because two or three hours a week makes teaching an uphill task for teachers. Parental support is also needed when working with disabled students because parents are considered as a prime and reliable source of trustworthy information about their children who are most likely prone to feel embarrassed if ever urged to talk about their disabilities. To promote English language teaching and learning, policy makers and curriculum developers are required to differentiate learning for all sorts of students, be them normal or disabled, when designing the teaching syllabuses. Another recommendation would be about the classroom environment which would certainly hinder the implementation of IE. The overcrowded classrooms must be vanished if the implementation of IE is to be effective and successful. It is necessary to carry out more researches on this arena especially on the trainings that should provide teachers with workable insights regarding the implementation of IE in the Algerian schools, and on how to cope with the demands of gifted students when studying in the same classrooms with the disabled ones.

Recommendations
The findings obtained from this research disclosed the positive attitude middle school teachers have towards the integration of IE in the Algerian schools. This is the first step towards inclusion which ought to be followed by extensive training and practice on how to be inclusive. They believe that deploying the right provisions would diminish the barriers that obstruct the students' progress. To that end, the researchers formulated the following recommendations: • Teachers need to be cognizant of the importance of accommodating students' needs. In so doing, students would get rid of the barriers which undermine their educational progress.

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Celebrating students' differences help in building a positive teacher-student rapport and reduce the amount of statementing.

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Teachers are required to bid farewell to the traditional methods of teaching which only serve to devalue individual differences.

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Establishing inclusive classrooms would inevitably help disabled students forget about their abnormality and decline special schooling.

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Syllabus designers should provide different provisions to help engage students in the learning process. This is best done through differentiating the curriculum.