Inclusión educación física

International Journal of Disability, Development and Education Vol. 56, No. 4, November 2009, 401–419

A Diversity of Voices: Physical education teachers’ beliefs about inclusion and teaching students with disabilities
Samuel Hodgea*, Jonathan O. A. Ammahb, Kevin M. Caseboltc, Kathryn LaMasterd, Bethany Hersmane, Amaury Samalot-Riveraf, and Takahiro Satog
of PAES, The Ohio State University,Columbus, OH, USA; bUniversity of Education, Winneba, Ghana, West Africa; cEast Sroudsburg University, PA, USA; dSan Diego State University, CA, USA; eWright State University, Dayton, OH, USA; fUniversity of Puerto Rico at Bayamon, Puerto Rico; gHampton University, VA, USA
hodge.14@osu.edu Dr 0 400000November 56 SamuelHodge 2009 & Francis Original Article 1034-912X (print)/1465-346X InternationalJournal 10.1080/10349120903306756 (online) CIJD_A_430849.sgmof Taylor and Francis2009 Disability, Development and Education

aSchool

The purpose of this study was to analyse the beliefs about inclusion and teaching students with disabilities of physical education teachers from various countries and cultures. The participants were 29 physical education teachers from Ghana (Africa), Japan, theUS and Puerto Rico. The research method was explanatory multiple-case study situated in the theory of planned behaviour. The primary data sources were attitude surveys and interviews. Survey data were analysed with descriptive statistics and the interview data were analysed using a constant comparative method. Results indicate that the teachers’ beliefs tended to vary on inclusion and teachingstudents with disablities. Paradoxically, they expressed compelling intrinsic motives while voicing a multiplicity of concerns on teaching students with disabilities. They all desired greater opportunities for relevant professional development, which should be made available more frequently by school districts. Keywords: case study; disability; diversity; inclusion; multicultural; physical educationIntroduction Globally, the inclusion of students with and without disabilities in integrated classes is an educational philosophy and practice that is gaining increased acceptance (DePauw & DollTepper, 2000). In the US, inclusion has been defined as an approach that supports the placement of all students whatever their abilities or disabilities in classes with their peers; in receipt of propersupports and accommodations (Block, 2000). This does not, however, always occur in the US or elsewhere. In Japan, for example, most students with disabilities are taught in separate classes or special schools with little or no chance for interaction with peers without disabilities (Kusano & Chosokabe, 2001; Sato, Hodge, Murata, & Maeda, 2007). Koryu kyoiku (i.e., interactive education) isgradually increasing in Japan, which means that some students with and without disabilities are educated together (Kusano & Chosokabe, 2001). Japan’s interactive physical education (PE) classes, although integrated, are typified by limited interactions between students with and without disabilities and have few, if any, supports and accommodations provided to improve the success of students withdisabilities (Sato et al., 2007). In this article, inclusion refers to the instruction of students with and without disabilities together in integrated PE classes.

*Corresponding author. Email: hodge.14@osu.edu
ISSN 1034-912X print/ISSN 1465-346X online © 2009 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/10349120903306756 http://www.informaworld.com

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A number of researchers have studiedteachers’ behaviours and beliefs about teaching students with disabilities in inclusive PE classes at schools across the US and elsewhere. In Ohio, for example, LaMaster, Gall, Kinchin, and Siedentop (1998) studied primary PE teachers’ beliefs about inclusion and student outcomes. They found that the teachers (a) exhibited multiple teaching styles, (b) had concerns about student outcomes, (c)...