The influence of different types of teacher preparation programs on preservice teachers' attitudes toward inclusion, their self-efficacy, and their instructional practices

Date of Award

5-2006

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Teaching and Leadership

Advisor(s)

Gerald M. Mager

Keywords

Teacher preparation, Preservice teachers, Attitudes toward inclusion, Self-efficacy, Inclusion

Subject Categories

Disability and Equity in Education | Special Education and Teaching | Teacher Education and Professional Development

Abstract

With increased implementation of inclusive education in public schools, teacher educators have been challenged to make changes in their programs to prepare preservice teachers for educating diverse learners. These changes are reflected in various types of teacher preparation programs that were transformed from traditional general education and special education programs. However, little is known in the influences of these transformed teacher preparation programs on their preservice teachers' characteristics as future inclusive educators. In order to examine the influences of different types of teacher preparation programs, preservice teachers' attitudes toward inclusion, their self-efficacy, and their instructional practices were investigated in this study.

A survey method was used to collect data from preservice teachers of 10 institutions. The responses from 110 preservice teachers from combined, separate, and general teacher preparation programs were analyzed statistically. The results indicated that preservice teacher from combined programs had significantly more positive attitudes toward inclusion than preservice teachers from separate programs ( p <.05). Preservice teachers from combined programs planned to use significantly more categories of instructional adaptations to include students with disabilities in their lessons ( p <.05) than those who are from the other two types of programs, yet there were no significant differences indicated in their self-efficacy measures among preservice teachers from different types of teacher preparation programs. The relationship among preservice teachers' attitudes toward inclusion, their self-efficacy and their instructional practices were described and discussed. Implications of this study for practice and research were suggested.

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