The Teacher as a Significant Part of Inclusive Education in the Conditions of Czech Schools

Inclusive education and related aspects are currently the priorities of the educational policy in the Czech Republic. Should inclusion be successful, it needs to be supported not only by public administration authorities and legislation, but also by schools, families, school authorities and counselling services. The present research study analyses the opinions of teachers, who are significant actors in the area of inclusive education. The results of the research reflect not only the teachers’ opinions about the issue, but at the same time reveal some issues that need to be addressed by educators of future as well as current teachers, should inclusion be successful.


Introduction
The current educational curriculum for elementary education in the Czech Republic allows for inclusion of pupils with special educational needs in mainstream schools. In spite of the fact that today the right of all persons to education is generally accepted, the inclusive form of education frequently raises various doubts in both the lay and professional community. Various concerns stem from inaccurate ideas of this form of education and insufficient information, particularly in relation to successful delivery of inclusion. In some countries such as in the Great Britain or Finland, the experience with the inclusive form of education is much longer and is mostly positive, in our country however, the concept of inclusion is gaining ground relatively slowly.
The quality of educating both the healthy population and pupils with special educational needs is influenced by a number of factors. One of the most significant roles in the educational process is played by the educator. The educator's role is irreplaceable and is decisive for the degree of success of the development of a pupil's personality. All changes in the educational approaches are related to not only well thought out theoretical background but particularly to comprehensive readiness of the principal educational actors, i.e. the teachers. To accomplish this task however, the highest possible amount of information is required.
Contemporary research studies of opinions about and attitudes to inclusive education of impaired persons focus on various participants of the educational process, i.e. teachers, pupils, parents, head teachers, counsellors, etc.
The attitudes of teachers, pupils or their parents represent, inter alia, significant specific positive experience with including impaired children in common schools. (Jordan et al. Hájková, Strnadová [1]) states that a number of teachers have concerns about inclusive education. The most frequent reason for these doubts is that pupils with special educational needs take the teacher's time that should be devoted to intact pupils, and also that teaching pupils with special educational needs requires special qualifications on the part of the teacher.
Resolution of the Government of the Czech Republic No. 277 of 7 April 1999 gave rise to the National programme for the development of education in the Czech Republic (White Paper) (Šmelová [2]). This strategic document was issued in response to the programme declaration of July 1998, when the main objectives of the educational policy were defined. The adopted objectives represented the basis for the Conception of education and the development of the educational system in the Czech Republic. In Chapter 10 Education of individuals with health and social disadvantages the document formulates a series of recommendations, one of which is to "To ensure the readiness of main-stream schools to integrate children with special educational needs in professional, personal and technical terms; To introduce the necessary changes in teacher education." (The National Programme [3]) The education of pupils with special educational needs in the CR is currently addressed by the Education Act (No. 561/2004 Coll. on pre-school, basic, secondary, tertiary professional and other education) [4]. The Act states that the children, pupils and students with special educational needs shall be entitled to education, the content, form and methods of which correspond to their educational needs and possibilities. The above mentioned Act specifies the following educational facilities: nursery schools, elementary schools, secondary schools (secondary technical schools, secondary practical schools, secondary general schools and secondary vocational schools). Tertiary education of students with special educational needs is provided for by means of fields of study at universities through group or individual integration.
In Slovenia, the current legislation in the area of educating pupils with special educational needs was adopted in 2000. As a result of the new acts, inclusion is one of the basic principles of educating pupils with special needs. Since 2001, various programmes have been developed, including compensation programmes to help pupils achieve a standard level of knowledge. At the same time, a process of reorganization and reconceptualization of institutions for children with special needs was launched. (Basic information about the system of education in Slovenia is available at www.mss.gov.si/index.php?id=83&L=1) [5]. In both countries, the issue of inclusion is an integral part of teacher education.
The essential difference between the CR and Slovenia is in the time of introducing inclusion as defined by legislation, teacher education and their experience. Slovenia has addressed the issue since 2000, therefore, the system is more sophisticated (see above) and Slovenian teachers are more experienced. In the CR this area is right at the beginning; legislative changes are being drafted. Czech teachers are gradually gaining experience.

Definition of the Research Issue The Teacher in Inclusive Education
In the educational process, the teacher plays one of the most important and irreplaceable roles. In the context of the issue in question, it appears necessary to develop and strengthen professional capacities of the teacher, which might be viewed from a general perspective, which is the capability of being a teacher, or from a specific viewpoint, which is the capability of teaching a specific school subject. From practice it is known that even an experienced teacher sometimes gets into situations, in which he/she does not have the experience to take the right actions; in these situations the teacher might assess own abilities and skills as insufficient to cope with the situation. The question that remains is how to influence the teacher's subjective idea about own abilities and possibilities, how to influence own perceived ability. Mareš (2013 [6]) states that there are basically two ways: self-regulation and external interventions. The first method is based on an assumption that during his/her career, every teacher assesses successes and failures, compares with colleagues, validates own possibilities and limits. The second method of external intervention is not easy. Bandura (1997 [7]) mentions that a change in own perceived ability may happen only when convincing feedback breaks the individual's previous misconceptions about own possibilities.
We believe that it is essential to track the teachers' opinions about inclusion not only their attitudes, experience, but also the need for continuing professional education significantly influence the educational process and its results. We also believe it is important to gain information about continuing teacher education concerning inclusion and teachers' experience in educating pupils with special educational needs.
The issue of inclusive education is closely associated with the following conditions for successful education:  parents and family  school  teachers  counselling and diagnosing, means special education support (support teacher, personal assistant, rehabilitation, compensation and learning tools, adjustment to educational conditions)  other factors (architectonic barriers, socio-psychological mechanisms, organizations for people with health disability)  transportation (transportation is one of the factors that influences parents' decision about the type of school) J.

Michalík (2012 [8])
In the Czech Republic there is a number of scientific publications that address the issue of inclusive education and provide a high-quality professional background, e.g. The Czech educational system includes: pre-school education, nine-year compulsory education, secondary education, higher vocational education and university education. The Slovenian education system includes: pre-school education (predšolska vzgoja), compulsory nine-year elementary school (osnovna šola), secondary education (gimnazije; poklicno in srednje strokovno in tehniško izobraževanje) higher vocational education (višje strokovno izobraževanje) and university education (visoko šolstvo). [9]

Research Team
The research team consists of professionals from the Faculty of Education, Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic. For the purposes of a comprehensive view,

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The Teacher as a Significant Part of Inclusive Education in the Conditions of Czech Schools the team involves researchers from the field of special education, psychology and pathopsychology. In this way we can achieve a synergy of views of the teacher -special education teacher -psychologist.
The central topic of the present research study is the teacher in the context of inclusive education in the conditions of a mainstream elementary school on the basis of the teacher's reflection.
Research question: Do teachers in our (Czech) elementary schools believe that they have sufficient experience and professional expertise for inclusive education?
Objective of the research: To obtain, analyse, synthesize and interpret the conclusions of the research study and to describe the current readiness of teachers for work with pupils with special educational needs as seen by elementary school teachers. To compare the data obtained in Czech schools with a control sample of elementary school teachers from Slovenia.

Organization and Stages of the Research
The research study is a part of a research project carried out at the Faculty of Education, Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic, since 2014 by the research centre of the Faculty.
Research stage 1  Establishing contact with and getting information from elementary schools of mainstream education. At the beginning, the contact with schools was of an indicative nature to find out the most frequent problems in the area of inclusion in schools.

 Development and validation of a research instrument
i.e. non-standardized questionnaire of and own design.
The questionnaire allowed us to obtain the necessary amount of data to indicate the preferences, orientation, opinions and attitudes of teachers to inclusive education. Development in other countries suggests that teachers' reflection not only increases the quality of education but also helps identify it, e.g. McDonald, B., 2006, [10] Bourke, R., Mentis, M. 2009. [11]  Co-operation with foreign partners has been established. Our partners provided data that we used only for an indicative comparison, particularly in those areas that seem problematic in the conditions of Czech schools. One of the partners was Slovenia (Faculty of Education, University of Koper); this partner was selected due to a considerable similarity of the educational systems.  Implementation of pilot testing. A preliminary survey was carried out to verify the quality of measurement and the resolving power of the research instrument. The questionnaire was addressed to a group of respondents (N = 20) who were not part of our sample.
Research stage 2  Field data collection. Data collection was performed in 2014. The data were obtained by direct application of the questionnaire in schools in the Olomouc Region, where we anticipated excellent conditions for the education of children with special educational needs as a result of collaboration of local schools with the Faculty of Education, Palacký University, and with high-quality counselling services and with significant support by relevant school authorities. In cooperation with the Faculty of Education in Koper we obtained data from the Slovenian region of Koper. The administration of questionnaires in Slovenia was carried out in an electronic way.
Research stage 3  Documentation and statistical data processing. In 2015, cumulative data administration was performed, followed by statistical processing in collaboration with the Computer Centre at Palacký University in Olomouc.
Research stage 4  During this stage the research team focused on data evaluation and indicative comparison. Then the team smoothly progressed to the discussion and interpretation of results, including evaluation of the research questions and hypotheses.

Research Sample -Subject of Research
The basic research sample consisted of teachers in mainstream elementary schools in the Olomouc Region, Czech Republic; the sub-sample consisted of elementary school teachers in the Koper region, Slovenia; this sub-sample was used for partial comparisons.
In both research samples -teachers from the Czech Republic, Olomouc Region (260 respondents) and Slovenia (60 respondents), region of Koper, a majority of respondents were women, for this reason this variable was not assessed Also in terms of experience both samples were comparable, a half of each sample had up to 20 years of teaching experience, the other half over 20 years of experience. The sample of Slovenian teachers, although it was smaller in terms of the number of teachers, was used for an indicative comparison, which was possible due to the already mentioned comparability of educational systems and teacher training systems in both countries.
The research sample was established by means of random selection.
The return rate of administered questionnaires was 87% for Czech teachers, and only 40% for Slovenian teachers.

Description of the Research Instrument
The questionnaire of our own design consisted of 23 questionnaire items in the form of questions. 1. Initial identification data -information for the respondents. 2. Population-related items (census, demographic)gender, length teaching experience, completed field of study. 3. The questionnaire items focused on the issue of inclusion in the following area: experience, continuing teacher education, benefits of inclusive education, conditions for inclusive education and assessment of counselling. 4. The final part relates to possible recommendations for educational practice and improvement of its quality.
The questionnaire developed by the research team was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Education; Palacký University in Olomouc, its administration was carried out in compliance with the principles of anonymity, both in terms of the respondents and the schools, which ensured the protection of personal data and authenticity of responses. The respondents were informed about the purpose of the questionnaire survey in advance and gave their consent.

Statistical Procedures
Statistical data processing was assisted by the Computer Centre of Palacký University in Olomouc. Statistical calculations were performed using PSPSS v 12.0 for Windows and STATISTICA: StatSoft STATISTICA CR, Cz (software system for data analysis. For data descriptions we used basic statistical characteristics of position and variability (arithmetic mean, median, mode, minimum, maximum and standard deviation), for demographic data we calculated absolute and relevant frequency. The Mann-Whitney U test was used.

Special Research Part
In accordance with the objectives of the research the following research questions were formulated: Do teachers consider inclusive education beneficial? Do teachers believe that cooperation with counselling services are at a required level in the area of inclusion?
Are there any differences in opinions and experience between Czech and Slovenian teachers?
Statistical data processing allowed an indicative comparison of the Czech and Slovenian sample of teachers. Table 1 Benefit of inclusion as seen by Czech and Slovenian teachers The assessment of the benefits of inclusion for intact pupils (Q10) shows an apparent uncertainty of Czech teachers, which is documented by the high percentage of teachers, who assesses the benefits as sometimes yes, sometimes not (48% of teachers). An analysis of the difficulties reported by Czech teachers in using this form of education of impaired pupils resulted in specific arguments. The most frequent ones were too many pupils in a class, lack of assistant teachers, lack of finance and special aids, or insufficient readiness on the part of the teachers.

Czech versus Slovenian Teacher
Looking at the data in Table 1 and Figure 1 in terms of comparing both countries, it is apparent that teachers from both countries vary in their opinions about the effect of the inclusive form of education on pupils with special educational needs; the differences in their answers are highly significant in most items of the questionnaire.
For example in assessing the benefit of the inclusive form of education for pupils with special educational needs (item Q9), Slovenian teachers reported considerably higher or more positive assessment of this type of education compared with the Czech group of teachers. Another significant difference in favour of Slovenian teachers was derived from the responses to the question whether they consider the inclusive form of education beneficial for intact pupils (item Q10). Compared with their Czech counterparts, more Slovenian teachers consider this type of education beneficial; the responses of Czech teachers are dominated by uncertainty. The results are directly associated not only with educational conditions, but also the development of required professional competences during undergraduate teacher training and their continuing education.
We believe that the several-year advantage in the implementation of inclusive education speaks in favour of Slovenia. An important fact in this respect is that the University of Koper has a course in Inclusive education, which means that the teachers have been specially trained in inclusive education in the framework professional training.
Essentially speaking, Czech teachers are at the very beginning in this area. The results of research studies confirm this situation in the CR. For example, Bočková and Klenková (2014 [12]) performed a research study as a part of the Student project promotion at MU in Brno, CR, and point out an insufficient level of awareness about inclusive education. As demonstrated by this research, future teachers do not fear the increased demands resulting from inclusion, but rather insufficient information and experience, which provide background for strengthening teacher preparation.
Significant factors of successful education include high-quality facilities of schools and their collaboration with educational and psychological counselling centres and special education centres. In this context, our research data provided the following information.

Czech Schools
The results suggest that cooperation of Czech schools with counselling centres is not, according to the teachers, at a required level. 60% of teachers report that the cooperation does not correspond with the requirements of practice.
Taking into account that currently teachers have little experience with and knowledge about the inclusive form of education, as suggested by our research, it is necessary to strengthen cooperation with professionals. In this context, we agree with the conclusions formulated by Pudišová (2014 [13]), whose research focused on cooperation with experts on inclusive education. In her conclusions she emphasises a need for a comprehensive form of collaboration involving teachers -special education teachers -psychologistseducational counsellors.

Czech versus Slovenian Schools
The difference between the teachers of both countries concerning their cooperation with special education centres (SECs) if they have a visually impaired pupil (item Q15) achieved statistically significant values, again in favour of the Slovenian sample. The assessment indicated by Czech teachers was much less positive, often indicating an absence of such cooperation. In terms of the differences in cooperation with SECs in case of a hearing impaired pupil (item Q16), no statistically significant difference was observed. It might be assumed that a certain role was played by more critical assessment of this cooperation in case of a hearing impaired pupil compared with a visually impaired pupil by the Slovenian sample of teachers. The proportions of various responses are shown in Figure 2. Other significant values related to the difference in assessing the degree of readiness of teachers for inclusion of a visually or hearing impaired pupil in mainstream schools (item Q20). The resulting data indicate a significantly more positive opinion about such readiness on the part of Slovenian teachers (see Figure 3).
Inclusion of pupils with visual and hearing impairment represents a demanding process. For example, the investigation performed under Research plan MSM002, measure 21622443 "Special needs of pupils in the context of the school curriculum for elementary education" at Masaryk University in Brno, CR in 2012, pointed to some problematic areas in the organization of school subjects, and issues relating to visual fatigue. According to the author, the positives include especially the good attitude of teachers, classmates, possibility to use compensatory aids, appropriate professional choice. According to Nováková (2013[14]), a similar situation applies to the inclusion of pupils with hearing impairment. The data shown in Figure 3 indicate that the mentioned significant difference is both in the positive assessment of teachers' readiness, which is more visible in Slovenian teachers, and in the more frequently expressed non-readiness of Czech teachers to work with a visually or hearing impaired pupil. In this respect, there is also a relatively strong preference of negative response alternatives indicated by the groups of teachers in the compared countries, i.e. the perspectives of teachers in both countries of their readiness to work with children with sensory impairment to a large extent documents possible existing problems in the area. Currently, teachers in both countries do not feel competent to ensure education of pupils with visual or hearing impairment. This is not their unwillingness to work with an impaired pupil, but rather realistic assessment of their own readiness for this work. This conclusion is to a certain extent refined by the following data analysis focusing on the issue including a pupil with impairment in the respondent's own class (items 21 and 22).
An analysis of the differences in the teachers' opinions about including a visually or hearing impaired pupil in their own class again revealed a statistically significant difference between the monitored groups of teachers in both cases, against the Czech sample of teachers. Our teachers' answers were much more frequently "rather not" and "definitely not", while Slovenian teachers inclined to the answers of "definitely yes" and "rather yes", as shown in Figure 4. The Teacher as a Significant Part of Inclusive Education in the Conditions of Czech Schools It can be generally assumed that the degree of self-efficacy in the area of working with pupils with special educational needs will be affected by the existing personal experience of the respondents.
Further statistically significant differences (at a level of statistical significance of 1%) between the countries related to personal experience with educating pupils with special educational needs. Personal experience was indicated by 43.9% of Czech respondents, while Slovenians reported 60.7%; this indicates that Slovenian teachers are more experienced compared with their Czech counterparts, which was probably also reflected in more positive opinions of Slovenian teachers.
The responses to the question about qualification in educating pupils with special educational needs during the last two years did not indicate any significant differences. However, there were differences in the presence of teachers responsible for addressing issues of children with special educational needs in the respondent's schools in favour of Slovenian teachers.
A statistically significant difference was also observed in the comparison of the responses to the question whether the respondent's school is attended by pupils with special educational needs. A significantly bigger proportion of these pupils are in Slovenia.

Discussion
In connection with the currently discussed issue of inclusive education we carried out a study investigating the opinions of Czech teachers about this form of education. In the context of this objective, the indicative comparison was based on the results of a questionnaire survey, the respondents of which were teachers in Slovenian elementary schools. It appears that Czech teachers have a cautious attitude to the inclusive form of education. Our research findings lead to an assumption that the more positive results of Slovenian teachers are related to their longer experience with the inclusive form of education. The teachers in the Slovenian sample reported more personal experience in working with children with special educational needs as well as more frequent presence of an educator responsible for addressing issues of children with special educational needs in their schools. A significantly higher degree of practical inclusion was observed in Slovenian schools. In the light of our data, the specific experience of teachers appears more significant than taking courses or other types of theoretical preparation. The variable of theoretical teacher training did not play a significant role in our research. According to the mentioned results of the performed questionnaire survey aimed at the opinions of elementary school teachers about inclusive education, it might be stated that a more positive situation in this respect is in Slovenia. In the area of delivery of the inclusive form of education the Czech system of education should further search for effective ways of influencing teachers, parents and the whole society.
Our results should not be regarded as criticism of existing efforts to enforce the inclusive form of education at a general level. On the contrary, the results should be used for inspiration and serious consideration in the future. A surprising result was the fact that teachers in both countries experienced unsatisfactory cooperation with special education centres and other helping institutes. Also, alarming is the large number of teachers reporting insufficient professional erudition to work with children with special educational needs; this was again observed in both countries. The teacher's personality influences the effectiveness of education in a crucial way. A teacher who is uncertain and not convinced about the correctness of his/her impact on the pupils has a corresponding attitude.
A significant role in the profession of a teacher is the length of teaching experience. The older and more experienced a teacher is, the more stable is his/her perception of own ability and the more difficult it is to achieve a change. This fact is also confirmed by the results of our research, which suggests that older teachers with experience of over 20 years are significantly more critical about inclusion, are more critical about any changes, which may be related to their perceived "personal ability". The results of the research raise a number of questions and issues. In the area of education, it appears to be necessary to focus on cognitive, psychomotor and also affective aspects. University courses should include more activating methods, workshops, students should participate in action research, as suggested by Mareš (2013 [15]). What should not be neglected is the teacher's respect towards the pupil in the context of the pupil's interests and needs. The role of teachers in inclusive education is to be a guide through the process of education. The teacher is not a mere provided of information but is also a counsellor. This fact is directly related to new professional competences. Teaching in an inclusive class requires changed behaviour on the part of the teacher, which is based on purposeful perception of differences between individual pupils and leads to adjustments of didactic and methodological procedures. Successful inclusion requires the role of the teacher in the sense of using the dynamics of the class. As claimed for example by Vágnerová and Klégrová (2008 [16]), the teacher is the one who can to a large extent contribute to the prevention of exclusion of a pupil from the class and even to the prevention of bullying. In this respect the authors state that children with special educational needs often take the position of a neglected classmate in the class hierarchy. At the same time they emphasise that adopting social skills plays a key role in pupils with special educational needs.
Generally, it can be stated that the teacher-student relationship gradually changes; it becomes less directive and is based on mutual respect and understanding. The inclusive principle of transformation of internal educational procedures in favour of all pupils directly correlates with the mastery learning theory, which requires adaptation of educational conditions, not adaptation on the part of the pupil (Průcha et al., 2009[17]). According to our experience, such transformation does not take place easily or quickly. But its positive impact on the development of the personality of each child is indisputable and a precondition for the development of the personality of a child with special educational needs. Providing educational opportunities in mainstream schools to pupils with a certain "unlikeness" might be legally stipulated; however, without teachers who believe in the positive effect of this form of education and deliver such form every day, the degree of success is very uncertain.

Conclusions
Country policy usually defines two basic requirements, i.e.
to ensure high quality education and to provide this education to everybody according to individual abilities and possibilities. According to OECD the fundamental objective is raising educational achievement of all pupils. (Walterová, 2012 [18]). Inclusive education can be considered a usual part of every modern and progressive educational system. Inclusive education fulfils the right of pupils with special educational needs to education. However, inclusion has limitations associated with the system of education as well as the pupil.
Based on a survey carried out in member countries, in 2012 the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education defined basic criteria that should ensure an inclusive environment in classes. These are in particular the following: respecting the value of diversity among pupils, supporting all pupils, cooperation on the part of pupils, and personal professional development. These criteria can be achieved only when the teacher is able to use own competences, which include attitudes, knowledge and skills. An essential role in providing effective support to inclusion is played by support teachers. It cannot be expected for every teacher to meet all professional criteria for satisfying various specific needs of pupils. At the same time however, inclusive education cannot be meaningfully delivered by a teacher without the necessary knowledge, experience and belief in his/her own ability to accept individual differences between pupils. Teachers should be provided with professional support by means of a specialized teacher responsible for methodological guidance relating to work with pupils with special educational needs. This professional -specialized teacher can be a member of the teaching staff of the school or can be an external employee. (Jedlička et al. [19]) We believe that currently a high-quality analysis of educational and other needs of teachers in the area of inclusive education should be performed and the conditions for inclusive education evaluated. (Šmelová et al. [20]) It should be borne in mind that every change requires a prepared environment. The implementation of inclusive education, as suggested by our data obtained in Slovenian schools, is a long-term and complex process, which has its development, must be supported by the government, needs well-trained professionals and prepared conditions. (Šmelová et al. [21]).