Novice teachers and educational inclusion: impact of attitudes and self-efficacy

This thesis focuses on novice teachers, their attitudes towards educational inclusion, and the impact of teacher self-efficacy. The theoretical part is divided into five main sections devoted to various aspects of a teacher's work, addressing the development and enhancement of their professional identity and teacher self-efficacy at the outset of their career. The last two chapters describe the concept of inclusion within the context of the Czech educational system and summarize the current research on teachers' attitudes towards inclusion. The empirical part presents a mixed-methods research study examining Czech novice teachers' attitudes towards and experiences with inclusion. The study also investigates factors potentially influencing the implementation of inclusion, including teacher self-efficacy, social environment, and perceived support. The research was conducted in three waves; however, due to attrition, only data collected during the first two waves were analyzed. In each stage, participants completed three types of questionnaires and participated in semi-structured interviews. The data were processed using statistical methods and thematic analysis as appropriate. This resulted in the development of a new model, proposing that teacher professional identity mediates the relationship..