What does the French public think about inclusive education?

BACKGROUND

To explain that students with intellectual disabilities are not fully included in mainstream education, the present paper investigates public attitudes towards inclusive education and notably examines how these vary according to students' type of disability (i.e., an intellectual, a communicational, a sensory, a motor, or a specific learning one).

METHOD: Data were extracted from an opinion poll on inclusive education conducted on a representative sample of the French population (N = 1001).

RESULTS

The analyses indicated that the public are less favourably inclined towards the inclusion of students with an intellectual disability in comparison to students with autism spectrum disorder, a sensory disability, specific learning disabilities or a motor disability. Participants who are familiar with disability seem to express more favourable attitudes than those who are not.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study contributes to a better understanding of public attitudes towards inclusive education and opens perspectives to develop more inclusive societies.