A Study on the Impact of Self-Efficacy on Teachers' Attitude towards Mainstreaming of Children with Disabilities

Abstract

Implementation of inclusive practices at the grassroots level is highly recommended to investigate the nature of teachers' attitudes, whereas high levels of self-efficacy tend to exhibit the most favorable positive attitudes towards inclusive education. Thus, it is crucial to understand how self-efficacy affects teachers' attitudes toward inclusive classroom settings. This study was designed to determine the individual contribution of self-efficacy in predicting teachers' attitudes toward mainstreaming of children with disabilities in Gwalior district, Madhya Pradesh, India. Additionally, the study intended to investigate the collective influence of gender, school locality, and teaching experience on self-efficacy and attitudes. Using teacher efficacy for inclusive practices (TEIP) and teacher attitudes toward inclusive education (TASTIE) scales, data were collected from 613 government elementary school teachers. Parametric statistics, three-way ANOVA, and regression analysis were used to analyze data, and results showed that the level of self-efficacy was not significantly affected by gender, school locality, and teaching experience nor by the interaction of these variables. However, teachers' attitudes were significantly affected by the locale of schools, with urban teachers exhibiting more favorable attitudes than their rural counterparts. While there was a significant positive correlation between self-efficacy and teachers' attitudes, the contribution of self-efficacy to predicting attitudes was relatively low.