Social Attitudes and Initial Teacher Education for Special Education

ABSTRACT: This research aimed to verify if, among three themes, commonly used in teacher Education for Special Education, any would present greater potential to promote changes in social attitudes in undergraduate students. It was developed and implemented a teacher-preparation program in order to test this effect of the following themes: History, Policies and Pedagogical Practices. The training program was developed in Moodle and was divided into three units, each addressing one of the topics. Eighty-eight undergraduate students participated in the study, distributed in three Moodle rooms. The course environment was composed of three main tabs concentrating the three themes to be tested, and three separate virtual rooms were created. Each room started the course with a theme, which were addressed simultaneously and interspersed. Before and after the participation of the undergraduate students in the first unit of the course, their social attitudes were measured by Likert Scale of Social Attitudes in relation to inclusion (ELASI). By means of statistical tests, it was verified that there was no statistically significant difference in the attitudes of the students for each one of the subjects tested among the rooms, as well as intra-rooms. However, it should be considered that the majority of the students have already started the course with attitudes close to the extreme maximum of ELASI. The results suggest that the topics covered in undergraduate courses present some potential to promote changes in attitudes among undergraduates, but perhaps it is time to rethink the approach and significance given to these disciplines.