Elementary School Teachers' Self-Efficacy Beliefs Concerning Inclusive Education

• In Event: Supporting Learners With Dis/abilities and Inclusive Education

Abstract

Teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs are considered to be essential personal resources underlying the successful implementation of inclusion. Bandura (1997) defines self-efficacy as the confidence in one’s competencies to reach target goals, even under challenging circumstances. He links it to four sources: Mastery and vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and physiological and affective states. However, only few studies consider the impact of those sources on inclusion-related efficacy beliefs. Therefore, we investigated their effect on the basis of a sample of N=355 teachers in ‘inclusive’ elementary schools. Structural equation modeling underpinned the importance of the assumed predictors of self-efficacy and in particular of teachers’ own experiences. Self-efficacy in turn proved to be a significant predictor for teachers’ willingness to engage in inclusive education.

Authors

• Katja Franzen, Paderborn University

• Barbara Moschner, Universitaet Oldenburg

• Frank Hellmich, Paderborn University