Special education teachers are usually working in the two systems in Pakistan. Teachers
working in public sector special education schools are providing the services to exceptional
learners with a belief in the psycho medical paradigm of special education whereas some special
education teachers are working with children with special needs in the private sector inclusive
schools by following the sociological paradigm of special education. It is the need of the hour to
compare and explore the factors that contribute toward the readiness of special educators (working
in special and inclusive schools) for the inclusion of learners with disabilities. The purpose of this
research was to investigate the readiness of teachers toward inclusion in educational process, and
to explore the factors that influence special educators' readiness for inclusive education. The
mixed-method research design was used. The population of the study was the special education
school teachers working in Punjab. A stratified proportionate random sampling technique was
employed for the selection of the sample. In the quantitative part, a questionnaire was developed
to find out the factors that affect the readiness of special educators (both working in special and
inclusive schools) for inclusion. In the qualitative part, the semi-structured interviews were
conducted till saturation based on the identified factors through data collected from the large
sample group to seek clarification and elaboration of the results. Thematic analysis was used for
qualitative data analysis. Descriptive and Inferential statistics was used for quantitative data
analysis. The findings were that special education teachers have the higher personal readiness
toward inclusion as compared to the other factors of the subscales which include professional
readiness and psychological readiness. The teachers working in inclusive schools have higher
personal readiness and professional readiness toward inclusive education as compared to the
teachers working in special / segregated schools. Whereas teachers working in segregated schools has higher psychological readiness as compared to teachers working in inclusive schools.
Furthermore, school setting, professional readiness, course on inclusive education, and awareness
of inclusive education policy and legislations are the factors affect the readiness of special
educators for inclusive education. On the basis of the qualitative findings it was revealed that
factors effecting the personal readiness of special educators include general school teachers’
negative attitudes toward children with disabilities, financial issues and lack of infrastructure
adaptations in regular schools, Parental attitude and participation toward inclusive education,
inclusion looks less practical, bullying, administrative support, less commitment of the
stakeholders, standardized curriculum and assessment procedures. The factors affecting the
professional readiness of special educators include lack of pre service and in-service training on
inclusive education, training of special education, single course on inclusive education, and less
exposure of the practical or field work related to inclusive education. The factors affecting the
psychological readiness of special educators include hesitant to change, less privileged status,
perceived ease of the traditional practices, less collaborative intensions of the general educators,
high expectation of the stakeholders in inclusive education. The concerns regarding inclusive
education include more accountability in IE, identity crisis, increased workload, job security, and
new learning paradigm.
Keywords: Inclusive Education, Personal Readiness, Professional Readiness, Psychological
Readiness, Segregation, Special Education teachers