PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ THEORY TO PRACTICE OF INCLUSION WITH CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Abstract

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are often included in the general education classroom requiring individualized inclusion strategies. This can result in challenges for both the general education teacher and classroom. Existing research calls for more integration of special education content in teacher education programs because few teacher preparation programs include curriculum for teaching children with disabilities or challenging behaviors. A purposeful plan and research based framework providing intentional opportunities to implement inclusion strategies for children with ASD to be part of an existing college course is included. The purpose of this study was to explore how 25 junior and senior pre-service teachers demonstrated knowledge of theory to practice throughout a college course in which the instructor provided scaffolding while incorporating strategies for inclusion for children with ASD. The conceptual framework for this study was guided by Donovan, Bransford, and Pellegrino’s (1999) theory of How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice, that included four interrelated attributes of learning environments: community centered, learner centered, assessment centered, and knowledge centered. These attributes became starter codes for data analysis. There were five types of data used to scaffold the learning of the pre-service teachers: journals, observations, interviews, field notebook, and documents. Three levels of data analysis took place: starter codes, with-in case analysis, and cross-case analysis. Major findings included the connection the pre-service teachers made between theory and practice and their interest, engagement, and gratitude for the knowledge of inclusion and ASD. Several implications are provided, including following pre-service teachers throughout their final internship when they are in the classroom daily to see if they continue to implement what they learned and apply in future educational settings.