TY - JOUR

T1 - Values and beliefs as predictors of pre-service teachers’ enjoyment of teaching in inclusive settings

AU - Büssing, Alexander Georg

AU - Menzel, Susanne

AU - Schnieders, Maxime

AU - Beckmann, Valerie

AU - Basten, Melanie

PY - 2019/12/27

Y1 - 2019/12/27

N2 - As several countries have committed themselves to the promotion of inclusive school systems, teachers might feel overwhelmed by the additional competencies needed for inclusive teaching. Beyond an increase in specialised knowledge, these competencies include a coherent belief system to facilitate the adoption of inclusive practices. Currently, there is scarce knowledge concerning the foundation of teachers’ beliefs and values and the possible connections between these personality traits and inclusive practices. Based on the theory of cognitive hierarchy, we investigated the predictive ability of the value of universalism in shaping sentiments, attitudes and concerns about inclusive education (RQ1), as well as their links to the anticipated enjoyment of teaching in inclusive settings as an indicator of enthusiasm for teaching (RQ2). Within a sample of 229 biology pre-service teachers (Mage = 22.9 years, SDage = 3.5 years; 76% female, 68% bachelor) we found universalism to be a direct predictor of sentiments, attitudes and concerns regarding inclusive education. Furthermore, universalism was the strongest predictor of anticipated enjoyment of teaching in inclusive settings, while only sentiments about inclusive education were not predictive for enjoyment. The study illustrates how deeper underlying values like universalism is connected to beliefs about inclusive education and subsequent motivations in the classroom. When teacher educators intend to motivate pre-service teachers to teach in inclusive settings, these variables should be kept in mind, though further study must be done on the generalisability of the results for pre-service teachers of other school subjects.

AB - As several countries have committed themselves to the promotion of inclusive school systems, teachers might feel overwhelmed by the additional competencies needed for inclusive teaching. Beyond an increase in specialised knowledge, these competencies include a coherent belief system to facilitate the adoption of inclusive practices. Currently, there is scarce knowledge concerning the foundation of teachers’ beliefs and values and the possible connections between these personality traits and inclusive practices. Based on the theory of cognitive hierarchy, we investigated the predictive ability of the value of universalism in shaping sentiments, attitudes and concerns about inclusive education (RQ1), as well as their links to the anticipated enjoyment of teaching in inclusive settings as an indicator of enthusiasm for teaching (RQ2). Within a sample of 229 biology pre-service teachers (Mage = 22.9 years, SDage = 3.5 years; 76% female, 68% bachelor) we found universalism to be a direct predictor of sentiments, attitudes and concerns regarding inclusive education. Furthermore, universalism was the strongest predictor of anticipated enjoyment of teaching in inclusive settings, while only sentiments about inclusive education were not predictive for enjoyment. The study illustrates how deeper underlying values like universalism is connected to beliefs about inclusive education and subsequent motivations in the classroom. When teacher educators intend to motivate pre-service teachers to teach in inclusive settings, these variables should be kept in mind, though further study must be done on the generalisability of the results for pre-service teachers of other school subjects.

KW - affect

KW - emotion

KW - professional development

KW - Special education

KW - teacher enthusiasm

KW - teaching motivation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85077166568&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/1471-3802.12474

DO - 10.1111/1471-3802.12474

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85077166568

VL - 19

SP - 8

EP - 23

JO - Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs

JF - Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs

IS - S1

ER -