Perceptions of EFL trainee teachers about attention to diversity issues in their initial training as Secondary Education teachers

Abstract

Designing and implementing inclusive practices is considered one of the basic lines of action for the construction of inclusive education; actions that depend to a great extent on the attitudes of the teachers, which can be modified by the training they receive. Within this framework, this research analysed the perceptions of 76 students in the speciality of Foreign Language - English about the initial training received on attention to diversity in the Master’s Degree in Teachers of Obligatory Secondary Education, Vocational Training and Language Teaching (MAES) at the University of Granada (UGR) (Spain), during the academic year 2018/2019. This is a descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional study of the responses obtained through the “Questionnaire for future Secondary Education teachers on perceptions of attention to diversity” (Colmenero Ruiz and Pegalajar Palomino, 2015). From the results obtained, it can be deduced that, in general, teachers in training have favourable attitudes towards diversity and the principle of inclusion. Likewise, it can be seen that female students have slightly more positive attitudes than male students, and there are also statistically significant differences in the consideration of diversity among those who have had contact with people with disabilities or disorders. It is concluded that it is appropriate to continue to influence on the attitudinal level, in relation to this subject, in such degrees.