Effect of inclusive practices on attitudes: A meta-analysis study

Abstract

With the study reported on here we aimed to synthesise recent quantitative research to specify the effect of inclusive practices on attitudes via meta-analysis. Since attitudes have an integral role in the performance of inclusion programmes, within the scope of the study, the cumulative findings of experimental studies conducted on attitudes towards inclusive practices were reinterpreted. To this end, studies with a pretest-posttest control group carried out in 2000 and 2021 were scanned from databases according to the inclusion criteria. After the search process, 23 studies that met the inclusion criteria were selected from 54 studies. The overall sample size of the studies included 2,016 participants. The mean effect size calculations, heterogeneity test, moderator analyses and publication bias analyses were conducted through a comprehensive meta-analysis programme (CMA 3.0). The findings that were discussed in accordance with the random effects model (REM) suggest that inclusive practices have a positive effect on attitudes and this effect is at a large level (g = 1.328) with respect to Cohen’s classification. This result indicates that inclusive practices have been strongly influenced by positive attitudes to yield favourable results. According to the moderator analyses, the highest effect sizes were found in the teachers’ group (g = 1,880) according to group level and in primary education (g = 1,374) according to school grades. The attitudes towards inclusion have been strongly influenced by teachers’ beliefs about the power of their teaching. More empirical studies on inclusive practices are recommended.