A Shift to the Positive: an effective programme for changing pre‐service teachers’ attitudes toward the disabled

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Abstract
The attitudes of teachers, primarily those teaching in regular, or main school classrooms are crucial to the successful integration of handicapped children into programmes with non‐handicapped children. The paper describes a training project which focused on changing the attitudes of pre‐service Elementary Education majors toward the disabled. Strong evidence suggests that teachers are not very accepting of the handicapped and of their integration. Two groups of Elementary Education majors were studied: one with training in ‘mainstreaming’ and one without such training. A third group of Special Education majors was also included. Findings indicated that the training was effective in improving the attitudes of the ‘mainstreaming’ group toward the disabled. At the time of testing, the attitudes of this group did not differ from those of the special education group. Variables related to the improvement of attitudes toward the disabled and the question of their maintenance over time were discussed.