INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN JAPAN AND KOREA – JAPANESE AND KOREAN TEACHERS’ SELF‐EFFICACY AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Abstract

The current study aims to evaluate teachers’ self‐efficacy and attitudes towards inclusive classrooms in Japan and Korea. Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES; Tschannen‐Moran and Woolfolk, ) and Scale of Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Inclusive Classrooms (STATIC; Cochran, ) were completed by 191 Japanese and 102 Korean teachers. The study found that Korean general education teachers’ self‐efficacy was higher than Japanese general teachers. However, no significant differences were found between Japanese and Korean special education teachers. Within the Korean group, general teachers had higher self‐efficacy but less positive attitudes towards inclusive education than special education teachers. Korean special education teachers were the least confident in teacher‐to‐teacher collaboration, while Japanese teachers were the most confident in such collaboration. Both Japanese and Korean teachers expressed a strong demand for in‐service training. Some of the implications of the findings are discussed in relating to the differences between Japanese and Korean teacher preparation systems.