The purpose of this study was to examine the variables that affected the attitudes of high school students toward individuals with disabilities. A total of 518 students from 12 high schools in Gwangju metropolitan city responded to the survey for this...
The purpose of this study was to examine the variables that affected the attitudes of high school students toward individuals with disabilities. A total of 518 students from 12 high schools in Gwangju metropolitan city responded to the survey for this study. The participants were sampled using multi-stage random sampling method with school classification (public vs. private schools) and gender as two strata based on Gwangju Statistics as of September, 2003.
The Disability Factor scale (Siller, 1977) with 43 items was used to examine the participants' attitudes toward individuals with disabilities, consisting of seven factors: generalized rejection, distressed identification, inferred emotional consequences, impute functional limitation, authoritarian virtuousness, rejection of intimacy, and interaction strain. Each item was scaled in range from 1 to 6 to indicate that the higher the score, the more positive their attitude. The survey, including the DFS and a 8-item questionnaire about the student's variables, was administered by the homeroom teacher for each of 15 classes at 12 high schools in November of 2003.
The major findings of this study were as follows:
First, the school classification (public vs. private) did not significantly affect the attitudes of high school students toward individuals with disabilities.
Secondly, the type of schools (girls' school, boys' school, and coeducation schools) did not statistically affect the attitudes of high school students toward those with disabilities.
Thirdly, the students' gender did not significantly affect the attitudes of their attitudes toward those with individuals.
Fourthly, the students' religion did not significantly affect their attitudes toward those with disabilities.
Fifthly, the presence or absence of a family member with disabilities did not significantly affect the attitudes of high school students toward those with disabilities.
Sixthly, the experience of inclusive education did not significantly affect the students' attitudes toward those with individuals.
Seventhly, the experience of the students' visiting facilities for people with disabilities significantly affected their attitudes toward those with disabilities. Students who had visited such facilities were found to be more positive toward individuals with disabilities than those who had not.
Lastly, the experience of students' serving people with disabilities significantly affected their attitudes toward those with disabilities. High school students who had served people with disabilities on the voluntary basis were found to be more positive toward individuals with disabilities than those who had not.
The implications of these findings were discussed. This study indicates that high schools in Gwangju provide too homogeneous education for their students.