Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Towards Children with Disabilities in Inclusive Education: A Study

Abstract

Even teachers who believe in inclusive education may struggle to practise it if they doubt their own ability to teach children with disabilities. Self-efficacy—a person’s belief in their capacity to carry out the actions required to achieve a goal—has emerged as a key determinant of how confidently and persistently teachers engage in inclusive practice. The present study assessed the self-efficacy of teachers for teaching children with disabilities in inclusive settings and examined its relationship with their attitudes towards inclusion as well as its variation by teaching experience and training. A descriptive and correlational survey design was adopted, and data were collected from 200 teachers through a standardised teacher-efficacy scale together with an attitude measure. The findings show that teachers report moderate self-efficacy for inclusive practice, strongest in managing behaviour and weakest in using specialised instructional strategies. Self-efficacy was significantly and positively correlated with attitudes towards inclusion, and was significantly higher among trained and more experienced teachers. The study concludes that building teachers’ self-efficacy—through training, experience, and support—is essential to translate positive attitudes into effective inclusive teaching, and it offers recommendations accordingly.