Development of pre-service teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes towards inclusive education through first teaching experiences
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Authors
We examined the development of pre-service teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes towards inclusive education through first teaching experiences during a 4-week practicum. Additionally, we assessed the burnout-related variables (job-related satisfaction and exhaustion and perceived competence support during the practicum). Whereas t-tests for paired samples showed that self-efficacy increased significantly, attitudes remained the same except for a decrease regarding attitudes towards the effects of inclusive education. However, 97% of the pre-service teachers in our study reported positive to neutral experiences with inclusive teaching during the teaching practicum and correlational analysis revealed a low, but significant positive relationship between positive experiences and self-efficacy and attitudes. Moreover, multiple regression analyses showed that positive experiences in inclusive classrooms predicted self-efficacy regarding the arrangements of inclusive education, while perceived competence support from university supervisors was a significant predictor of attitudes towards the effects of inclusive education. High self-efficacy correlated significantly with satisfaction of career choice, whereas attitudes were significantly negatively correlated with exhaustion. The implications of these findings and the importance of a sufficiently scaffolded teaching practicum in order to increase attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs towards inclusive education are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | S1 |
Pages (from-to) | 73-84 |
Number of pages | 12 |
ISSN | 1471-3802 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 27.12.2019 |
- Educational science - attitudes, Inclusive education, pre-service teachers, self-efficacy beliefs, teaching practicum