Teacher variables as predictors of Singaporean pre-service teachers attitudes toward inclusive education

Abstract

This study investigated whether the attitudes of pre-service teachers in Singapore towards inclusive education were influenced by their background variables (i.e., gender, age, educational qualifications, programme of study, prior training in special needs and contact with people with disabilities) through the use of the Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education Scale (Wilczenski, 1992). Analyses of the responses of 1538 mainstream pre-service teachers indicated that the best predictor variables of the pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education were their prior training in special needs and contact with people with disabilities. Pre-service teachers who had training in special needs and those with the most contact with people with disabilities displayed significantly more positive attitudes towards inclusive education. The variables of gender, educational qualifications and programme of study exerted no significant influence on their attitudes. While the variable of age had a statistically significant effect on the pre-service teachers’ attitude toward inclusive education, this was judged to be of little practical significance because of the small difference in the mean scores between groups. Implications of the findings are discussed in relation to promoting more inclusive attitudes in Singaporean teachers.