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Five hundred fifty mainland Chinese university students were given a questionnaire that contained a Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices (TEIP) scale. The purpose of the study was a) to test the factor structure of teacher... more
Five hundred fifty mainland Chinese university students were given a questionnaire that contained a Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices (TEIP) scale. The purpose of the study was a) to test the factor structure of teacher self-efficacy for inclusive practices, b) to investigate the relationship between teacher self-efficacy for inclusive practices and attitude toward inclusive education, and c) to study the relationship between participants' attitudes and other variables related to inclusive education. Confirmatory factor analysis gave support the hyphothesis of three correlated but separate factors of self-efficacy: Efficacy to use inclusive instructions, Efficacy in collaboration, and Efficacy in managing behaviour. As the initial factors were correlated, another model with second-order factor to which the three factors loaded, was tested. This model fit the data equally well. The second-order factor, which was named as General teacher self-efficacy for inclusive practice...
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A sample of 523 Chinese university students was given a questionnaire on their attitudes towards the inclusion of children with disabilities into regular classrooms. Factor analysis, analysis of variance, t-test and correlations were used... more
A sample of 523 Chinese university students was given a questionnaire on their attitudes towards the inclusion of children with disabilities into regular classrooms. Factor analysis, analysis of variance, t-test and correlations were used to assess the respondents ’ general attitude towards inclusion, the factor structure of the attitudes, the relationship between demographic variables and the attitudes and the ratings of best educational environments for students with different kinds of disabilities. The analysis revealed that (a) the participants’ average attitude towards inclusion was slightly negative; (b) four factors, named as Social justice, Meeting the special needs of the pupils with severe disabilities, Quality of education and Teachers ’ competence, were extracted (c) the most important background variable that explained the attitudes was the participants’ major subject in the University; and (d) the ratings for the best educational environment for a student with a disabi...
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Governments worldwide have set the goal of including students with disabilities in regular classrooms of mainstream schools. This dissertation focuses on in-service and pre-service teachers’ perceived self-efficacy and attitudes related... more
Governments worldwide have set the goal of including students with disabilities in regular classrooms of mainstream schools. This dissertation focuses on in-service and pre-service teachers’ perceived self-efficacy and attitudes related to inclusive education by using three separate quantitative datasets. The first sample was collected in 2007 from 523 students via internet and in two normal university campus areas in Beijing, China. The second sample was gathered in 2010 and consists of the responses of 554 Chinese normal university students and students of a special education college. The third sample was collected in 2010–2011 from 451 Chinese, 855 Finnish, and 605 South African inservice teachers. Based on the analysis, the teacher self-efficacy for inclusive practices appears to have a multidimensional structure. In this dissertation, teacher self-efficacy was divided into three factors – Efficacy in inclusive instruction, Efficacy in collaboration, and Efficacy in managing stu...
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Although there are clear differences in national policies regarding inclusive education, the international debate has not fully considered their impact on implementation within different countries, for example on teacher education. This... more
Although there are clear differences in national policies regarding inclusive education, the international debate has not fully considered their impact on implementation within different countries, for example on teacher education. This paper reports on results from a comparative study of in-service teachers’ attitudes and self-efficacy in implementing inclusive practices in South Africa and Finland and its implications for teacher education in these countries. A sample of 319 South African and 822 Finnish primary and secondary education teachers completed a questionnaire containing a scale measuring sentiments, attitudes and concerns on inclusive education as well as a scale measuring teachers’ self-efficacy in implementing inclusive practices. A comparative analysis indicated that whereas the overall sentiments towards disabilities were positive in both countries, teachers had many concerns about the consequences of including children with disabilities in their classrooms. While the most positive aspect of self-efficacy among the South African teachers was their self-efficacy in managing behaviour, the Finnish teachers saw this as their weakest point. Self-efficacy, in particular efficacy in collaboration, was clearly related to overall attitudes towards inclusion. The implications of these findings for pre-service and in-service teacher education are discussed.