| The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlations between special educators' self perceptions toward level of inclusion in workplace and their personal traits regarding hope and locus of control. Thirty-six special educators from preschools through senior high schools in Lawrence, Kansas, responded to a web-based questionnaire concerning (a) demographics, (b) the Inclusion Scale, (c) the Adult Hope Scale, and (d) the Adult Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Control Scale. Results revealed that (a) special educators in inclusive/co-teaching settings perceived themselves as having a physically comfortable and safe workplace, more so than educators in other settings; (b) through a small n, males reported more satisfaction that their workloads were shared than did females, (c) special educators with provisional licensure endorsements in special education felt more satisfied that their workloads were shared than did those who held permanent standard licensure endorsement in special education; and (d) both in permanent and provisional endorsements, educators working in gifted programs reported more hopefulness than did educators in adaptive programs. In addition, a significant correlation was found between the Inclusion Scale and the Adult Hope Scale. Conclusions were drawn from the results and implications for future studies were proposed and discussed. |
