Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the key issues surrounding teacher/staff disability disclosures in the UK's further education (FE) sector. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted in a medium-sized FE college (case study) setting in the South East of England. To compare the experiences,…

In the province of Manitoba, Canada, there is a gap between the rhetoric of inclusive education and its practical implementation. In the absence of inclusive educational policies and guidelines, deficit-based approaches such as categorical labels for students who are deemed to have a severe emotional and behavioural disorder, segregated…

This qualitative study explored the perspectives of parents and teachers in the US with regard to the meaning and implications of disability in the context of schoolling, and of raising a child with a disability. The findings revealed broad conceptual differences in the perspectives of these two groups. Teachers' beliefs were generally consistent…

Describing students with disabilities as presenting "challenging behavior" is common in US schools. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the discourse utilized by teachers in order to understand their beliefs and practices surrounding young students considered to present challenging behavior. This study examines teachers' language in…

A study involving 240 students (undergraduate special education, graduate special education, undergraduate regular education, and graduate regular education) indicated that the label ascribed to a child significantly affected his/her perceptions of student academic behavior, and to a lesser degree, social behavior. The assigned attribute did not…

The extent to which 46 special education teachers judged the mathematics performance of a fourth grader to be a function of his handicapping condition and/or his competence was evaluated. A videotape presentation and brief case study were reviewed and teachers were asked the extent to which various attributes were influential in the child's…

The extent to which special education teachers judged the mathematics performance of a fourth-grade youngster to be a function of his handicapping condition and/or his competence was evaluated. Results are discussed with regard to previous research and implications for reducing the effects of labels. (Author/GK)

A study involving 334 preservice and inservice educators extrapolating from a scale on attitudes toward Black children and mentally retarded children to similar measures of attitudes toward Mexican-American and minority-learning disabled children supported the minority group construct approach. (Author/CL)

Among results of subsequent ratings by the Ss were that labeling significantly affected teacher perceptions of a videotaped child, but that the behavioral attribute condition did not affect their perceptions. (Author/MC)

This article reports on a British study that examined the connotations of several special education labels (abnormality, deficit, impairment, disability, learning difficulties, and special educational needs) to experienced teachers, trainee teachers, and trainee educational psychologists (total N=220). All three groups rated "special…

It was hypothesized that teacher expectations for the future performance of a child and teacher attributions for that performance would not differ as a function of the categorical label (emotionally disturbed or learning disabled) assigned to the child. Results are discussed with regard to implications for mainstreaming. (Author/GK)

Investigated with 258 regular or special education teachers was the effect on teacher expectations of describing mildly handicapped children in terms of labeled (learning disabled, retarded, or emotionally disturbed) behavioral descriptions or of non-labeled behavioral descriptions. (MH)

Ten key issues and obstacles pertaining to mainstreaming are discussed, including redefining the relationship between special and regular education, the schock of normalization, recognition of physical and psychological barriers, teacher attitudes, labeling, and the individualized education plan. (DLS)

One of 52 theoretical papers on school crime and its relation to poverty, this chapter discusses experiences in the Human Relations Program at the University of Minnesota. The program has developed from one that offers undergraduate and graduate courses in human relations to one that also responds to requests from community agencies other than the…

The author discusses attitude formation and attitude change and suggests how administrators, teachers, and counselors can help change negative attitudes toward the handicapped and develop positive ones. (KC)