The effect of social support on attitudes towards inclusive education and self‐efficacy among pre‐service special education teachers in Egypt

Abstract

AbstractThe primary socializing agents have been found to play a key role in shaping teachers' attitudes. In the realm of inclusive education (IE), one of the most extensively researched themes is teachers' attitudes regarding inclusion. Contrary to a plethora of attitudinal studies that are solely concentrating on describing teacher attitudes, the present study sought to investigate the perceived social support (PSS) perceptions of pre‐service special education teachers in terms of their attitudes towards inclusive education and their self‐efficacy beliefs (TSE). The population of this correlational research design study consists of 525 pre‐service special education teachers from six different colleges of education in Egypt's northern, central and southern big cities. Using a correlation technique and structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, the research data were analysed. The findings revealed that the PSS scales' sub‐dimensions indicate having a significant and positive relationship with TSE as well as attitudes towards IE. In addition, research revealed that pre‐service special education teachers' PSS significantly predicted their TSE beliefs and attitudes towards IE. The study's findings reflect crucial implications for teacher education policymakers in addressing pre‐service teachers' needs of professional learning programmes that should include a career development stage targeted at generating socially supportive role models.