TRUST AND GREEK TEACHER'S ATTITUDES TOWARDS INDIVIDUALS WITH AN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

Individuals with intellectual disability are one of the most numerous groups which are integrated in the educational system. The educational system is the most supporting factor in their learning process. On the other hand teachers constitute a social team of professionals that directly contribute to the operation of the educational system. Teachers act, interact and are affected by the social environment, also teachers as active individuals take decisions; they give meaning to the regulative framework by acting with relative autonomy. In this framework, their attitudes towards individuals with a disability play an important role in educational system and related to the conversion and restructure of it. In the present research we have selected to investigate how the sense of trust teachers experience within the social structure related to teachers conceptualization of individuals with an intellectual disability and the interaction with these individuals. The sample of the present research consists of 240 teachers of the Greek Secondary Education, 135 of which are male and 105 (43.89%) female. For the materialization of the research the improvised questionnaire was used, which includes five units, which includes questions relating to the education and the training, to the attitude of the teachers towards the individuals with an intellectual disability, to the inclusion of the children with an intellectual disability and to the conceptualization of the teachers for the individuals with a disability. From the conclusions it was shown that most teachers have positive attitudes towards individuals with an intellectual disability, but there are differentiations related with the rate of trust among the educational community.