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The impact of a teacher education course on pre‐service teachers' beliefs about inclusion: an international comparison
Author(s) -
Sharma Umesh,
Sokal Laura
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of research in special educational needs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.543
H-Index - 27
ISSN - 1471-3802
DOI - 10.1111/1471-3802.12043
Subject(s) - inclusion (mineral) , psychology , teacher education , mathematics education , medical education , pedagogy , test (biology) , self efficacy , teaching method , medicine , social psychology , paleontology , biology
In this comparative study, the impact of two stand‐alone university courses on pre‐service teachers' attitudes, concerns and teaching efficacy to teach in inclusive classrooms is examined. Twenty‐eight pre‐service teachers ( PSTs ) from A ustralia and 60 PSTs from C anada completed a survey at pre‐ and post‐stages of the course. It was found that after completion of the course, Australian participants' attitudes improved, their concerns declined, and they became more confident in their ability to teach in inclusive classrooms. Similarly, C anadian participants' concerns declined and their teaching efficacy improved, but they became more apprehensive about teaching in inclusive classrooms. Relationships among the three variables (attitudes, concerns and teaching efficacy) were examined at pre‐ and post‐test stages for both cohorts to understand how they interacted within each of the two countries. Implications of the findings for teacher education are discussed.