Attitudes of Primary School Teachers Toward Inclusive Education

Vol.29,No.1(2024)
Online first 2024

Abstract

Research on teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education (hereinafter IE) is an important topic globally. However, despite its significance for the successful implementation of IE, it has not received sufficient attention in the Czech Republic. In line with the Theory of Planned Behavior, the aim of this study was to analyze teachers’ intentions to implement inclusive practices in schools depending on socio-demographic factors, beliefs, feelings, and their self-efficacy in relation to IE. The individual components of attitudes and self-efficacy were analyzed using standardized Czech versions of foreign scales (AIS – Attitudes Towards Inclusion, ITICS – Intention to Teach in Inclusive Classroom, TEIP – Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices) on a quota sample of 1,434 teachers from a total of 138 regular primary schools across all regions of the Czech Republic. Based on multilevel hierarchical data modelling, the study results showed that teacher level predictors had a more significant effect than school characteristics (collective attitudes and self efficacy, experience with IE, and the presence of a specialist in the school). Concerning IE, 65% of teachers declared negative beliefs and 30% had negative feelings. By contrast, intentions were relatively high,
and teachers with higher self-efficacy were likelier to engage in inclusive behavior. Women declared higher levels of willingness than men, but this tended to decrease with increasing length of experience in education. The study results suggest important implications for practice, which are discussed.


Keywords:
attitudes; intentions; self-efficacy; primary school teachers; inclusive education
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Additional information

Tato studie byla podpořena v rámci projektu SGS "Psychometrická analýza zahraničních nástrojů zjišťujících postoje a self-efficacy učitelů ve vztahu k inkluzivnímu vzdělávání" (číslo grantu UJEP-SGS-2023-43-006-2).

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