Atteggiamenti discriminatori e propensione all’inclusione

The empirical literature on school inclusion deals extensively with the issue of attitudes, of future teachers in training in particular. Studies generally highlight opinions or emotions associated with school situations and relational aspects, while they rarely inves- tigate the relationship between teachers’ attitudes and their impact on pupils’ school experi- ence. This link between attitudes and impacts is even more relevant regarding discrimina- tory phenomena, which may be oriented on the basis of specific characteristics or affiliations of pupils, favoring or, on the contrary, hindering them. Such data, if provided to schools in a timely and customized manner, can represent useful information for planning training proposals and improvement actions. The present study, conducted with a sample of teachers from the Trentino-Alto Adige Region, is aimed at simulating a self-assessment process on the issue of teachers’ discriminatory attitudes. In addition to relating ableism to the three ‘isms’ traditionally studied in the literature (racism, sexism and classism), the research seeks to understand the link between training, ableist attitudes and their propensity to inclusive teaching.