Teacher Attitudes, Exclusionary Practices, and Critical Pedagogy Theory

Non-conforming behaviors are considered to be actions that are not acceptable in the eyes of those in power or those in the dominant culture (Freire, 1973). Students who exhibit non-conforming behaviors are remaining in the general education classroom setting; however, are teachers able to manage students in their classroom while continuing to teach? This study explores teachers' attitudes toward inclusion with the use of the Scale of Teachers Attitudes towards Inclusion (STATIC) (Cochran, 1998), and a survey addressing how teachers respond to non-conforming behaviors. A mixed methods design was used to understand the phenomenon of how and why teachers responded to non-conforming behaviors in the manner that they reported. By examining the teacher’s responses to non-conforming behaviors, the comparison between assimilation versus culturally relevant teaching practices (Ladson-Billings, 2022) is explored in the classroom setting.<p></p>