Chilean Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusive Education, Intention, and Self-Efficacy to Implement Inclusive Practices

Constanza San Martin, Chenda Ramirez, Rubén Calvo, Yolanda Muñoz-Martínez and Umesh Sharma
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Constanza San Martin: Faculty of Education, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago 8320000, Chile
Chenda Ramirez: Centre of Inclusion and Social Innovation, Universidad Viña del Mar, Viña del Mar 2520000, Chile
Rubén Calvo: Faculty of Geography, Catholic University of Chile, Santiago 8320000, Chile
Yolanda Muñoz-Martínez: Faculty of Education, University of Alcala, 28 805 Madrid, Spain
Umesh Sharma: Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne 3800, Australia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: Teachers play an important role in the success of inclusive practices for diverse learners in regular classrooms. It is, therefore, important to examine their beliefs and preparation to teach in inclusive classrooms. The main purpose of this study was to analyze the attitude of active Chilean teachers (n = 569) towards inclusion, their self-efficacy regarding inclusive practices, and their intention to teach in inclusive classrooms. Our secondary objectives were to explore the relationship between their attitudes and self-efficacy and to determine the influence of demographic and professional variables on these two constructs. A positive and significant relationship between teachers’ attitude and self-efficacy was found. Teacher qualification was not significantly related to attitudes towards inclusion but was negatively associated with their self-efficacy beliefs concerning inclusive practices. Secondary education teachers reported lower teaching efficacy beliefs for inclusion than pre-school, primary, and special education teachers. The type of school emerged as a significant predictor of teachers’ attitude and self-efficacy beliefs. The implications of this research and need for additional teacher and in-service training to improve educators’ attitudes and self-efficacy are discussed.

Keywords: attitudes; inclusive education; intentions; teaching efficacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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