A study on beginning teachers perceived sense of teaching efficacy in implementing inclusive practices

The increasing awareness of inclusive education entails beginning preschool teachers to handle classes with the inclusion of children with special needs in the mainstream classroom. Existing studies have identified that the teachers high level of teaching efficacy is an important component in the success of inclusion. More so, teachers attitude, concern, commitment, and sense of collective efficacy have all been linked to have significant relationships with their teaching efficacy towards inclusion. The purpose of this sequential explanatory research was to provide the lack of research on beginning preschool teachers perceived sense of teaching efficacy in implementing inclusive practices and lack of qualitative data on how attitude, concern, commitment, and sense of collective efficacy predict it. A sample population of 96 beginning preschool teachers from private preschools in Metro Manila was used to determine the general level of their perceived sense of teaching efficacy in implementing inclusive practices by completing the Perception of Teachers towards Inclusive Education scale (Sam, Ho, Lam, 2015), the revised Collective Efficacy scale (Goddard, Hoy, and Woolfolk Hoy (2000), and the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices scale (Sharma, Loreman, Forlin, 2013). Qualitative data was also used to provide in-depth information on the attitudes, concerns and avenues of their commitment, and sense of collective efficacy. Correlation, regression, and thematic analysis were used to analyze the quantitative and qualitative results of this research. Results show that (1) beginning preschool teachers concern and commitment are the factors that best predict and strongly influence their perceived sense of teaching efficacy in implementing inclusive practices and (2) there is a need for beginning preschool teachers to know more about the characteristics of common disabilities of children in an inclusive class and how to properly address disruptive behaviors