Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes Towards Inclusive Education

Abstract

Inclusive education is the cornerstone of quality education. Regardless of their backgrounds, inclusive education is a fundamental human right for all students. Understanding the factors associated with pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education attitudes is critical. Based on the existing literature, several factors have been identified, including self-efficacy in inclusive practices, knowledge in inclusive education, and attitudes towards disability. The current study aims to determine whether self-efficacy, knowledge, and attitudes towards disability predict pre-service teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education. This study adopts a cross-sectional quantitative approach using an online survey to collect data. The survey comprises four questionnaires, namely, Sentiments, Attitudes and Concerns of Inclusive Education-Revised (SACIE-R), Knowledge of Inclusive Education (KIE), Teachers’ Efficacy for Inclusive Practice (TEIP), and the Attitudes Towards Disability Scale (ADS). The study included 91 pre-service teachers recruited from an Australian university. Analytical approaches included descriptive statistics, correlation analyses and regression analyses. Correlation analyses between the total scores of the four questionnaires did not identify any significant correlations between these factors. However, correlation analyses of the subscales of each questionnaire provided some insights. Three separate regression analyses were conducted using the subscale scores with SACIE-R concerns, SACIE-R sentiments, and SACIE-R attitudes as the outcome variables and TEIP efficacy in instructions, TEIP efficacy in collaboration, TEIP efficacy in behaviour, KIE total, ADS inclusion, ADS discrimination, ADS gains, and ADS prospects as predictor variables. First, TEIP effectiveness in instruction and behaviours, KIE and ADS inclusion were found to significantly predict SACIE-R concerns. Second, TEIP efficacy in collaboration, ADS inclusion and ADS prospects were found to significantly predict SACIE-R sentiments. Third, the KIE, TEIP, and ADS predictor variables were not statistically significant for SACIE-R attitudes when the regression model was being conducted. Although no significant correlations were identified, further analysis of the subscales suggested self-efficacy as a potential predictor in shaping pre-service teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education, specifically with efficacy in inclusive instruction and efficacy in behaviour. The limitations and implications are discussed further in this study.