Pre‐service teachers' attitudes and the factors influencing their formation regarding inclusive education in Kosovo

Abstract

AbstractThis study investigates pre‐service teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education in Kosovo and identifies the factors that influence and predict those attitudes. The data were collected using a quantitative method. The study involved 210 pre‐service teachers. Data were analysed descriptively through comparative means, correlate analysis, and regression analysis. The results of the study found that the pre‐service teachers had relatively positive attitudes towards inclusive education. The study indicates only one significant difference between attitudes and demographic factors: pre‐service teachers who had attended only one course in inclusive education had more positive attitudes than those who had attended two or more. The Pearson's correlation results found no positive correlation between pre‐service teachers' attitudes towards inclusion and self‐efficacy. The predictors of pre‐service teachers' attitudes are courses for inclusive education, teaching placements during training and self‐efficacy. The findings recommend that teacher training programmes should provide objective information about the complexities of inclusion, as well as provide practices that enable pre‐service teachers to develop pedagogical skills and increase self‐efficacy in implementing inclusive education.