Experiential learning: changing student attitudes towards learning disability

Purpose

– The method used to analyse the journals was Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith and Osborn, 2008).

Findings

– Implications of the findings are for government policies, promoting social inclusion through education, to offer the opportunity for direct contact with people with learning disabilities, (in keeping with Allport's, 1954 Contact Theory) at an earlier stage in education, fostering an environment for earlier attitude change and increased social inclusion.

Social implications

– This piece of research may add value to social, government and educational policies. Finding an evidence base to continue to build policies for decreasing marginalisation and promoting social inclusion for people with learning disabilities.