Concerns of Regular Teachers Regarding the Inclusion of Students with Special Needs in Basic Schools in the Center of Duhok Governorate

This research aims to study the range of concerns regular teachers have concerning the inclusion of students with special needs in basic schools within the center of Duhok Governorate. It also seeks to reveal statistical differences in these concerns based on gender and years of service. The researcher accepted a descriptive method for the study, and the sample was selected randomly, focusing on regular teachers working in basic schools in the center of Duhok Governorate during the academic year (2023-2024). The research community contained of 8,173 male and female teachers, from which 105 were selected as the sample for the study.

To meet the research objectives, the teachers' concerns scale created by Sharma and Desai, which comprises 24 items, was applied. To approve the rationality of the research instrument, both its apparent validity and translation validity were assessed, and its dependability was measured using Cronbach's alpha coefficient.

The data were statistically processed using arithmetic averages, t-tests for one and two independent samples, one-way analysis of variance, and Cronbach's alpha. The consequences designated that regular teachers have certain concerns about the inclusion of individuals with special needs in basic schools, with male teachers expressing greater concerns than their female counterparts. Conversely, the findings did not reveal significant differences in the level of worries between new and experienced teachers, suggesting that these concerns are not necessarily linked to the number of years of experience related to the integration process.