Bishwa Bala Thapa

Perception of Secondary School Students Towards Inclusive Education: Perception of Secondary Students Towards Inclusive Education: Teenagers' Voices Bishwa Bala Thapa

This study was aimed at exploring the perception of secondary school teenagers in the Netherlands, based on an interpretive research paradigm and employed a qualitative approach which provided the opportunity to hear the voices of 16 key participants (8 students with special educational needs and 8 students without special educational needs)from two pre-vocational schools in Tilburg, the Netherlands, in order to interpret how they made sense of their world . Inclusive education has primarilty focuded on the full participation of all the children in a student-centred education system. The main findings of the study suggested that inclusion enhanced mutual understanding and reciprocal learning; acceptance and recognition by adults and peers mattered; and also a student-friendly school environment helped promote inclusive education. All the participants students were in favour of learning in inclusive classes because it increased interaction among both types of students.