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Attitudes and self-efficacy of pre-service teachers towards inclusion in

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Article  in  Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs · June 2014

DOI: 10.1111/1471-3802.12071

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Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs · Volume •• · Number •• · 2014
doi: 10.1111/1471-3802.12071
Attitudes and self-efficacy of pre-service teachers
towards inclusion in Pakistan
Umesh Sharma1, Sadia Shaukat 2 and Brett Furlonger1
1
Monash University; 2University of Education
Key words: Attitudes, teaching efficacy, inclusion, pre-service teachers, teacher education.
This study sought to determine the attitudes and
teaching self-efficacy of pre-service teachers
towards the inclusion of students with disabilities
into regular classrooms. A questionnaire was
administered to 194 pre-service Pakistani teachers
(male 73, female 121) enrolled in a 1-year teacher
education programme at a government university
in Pakistan. Overall, male pre-service teachers
expressed more positive attitudes than their female
counterparts regarding the inclusion of students
with disabilities in regular classrooms. Surprisingly,
those pre-service teachers majoring in special edu-
cation did not express more positive attitudes
towards inclusion than their counterparts who were
preparing to teach in mainstream schools. However,
participants with training in special education,
knowledge of disability legislation, teaching experi-
ence and personal experience with a disability
reported higher levels of self-efficacy towards
teaching within inclusive settings. The findings
of the study are discussed with possible implica-
tions for policy-makers and teacher educators in
Pakistan and other countries in the South Asian
region.
Countries such as the USA, the UK and Canada have passed
legislation to promote the inclusion of students with dis-
abilities into regular classrooms. In turn, such legislation
has influenced the ‘inclusive’ educational policies of devel-
oping countries, such as India (Sharma and Deppeler,
2005), the Philippines, Hong Kong (Sharma, Forlin and
Loreman, 2008) and Pakistan (Hameed, 2003). However,
the move towards inclusive educational practices in Paki-
stan has been more gradual in comparison with Western
countries. Beginning in 1972, Pakistan’s education policy
allocated funds for providing special education services for
the first time. During the decade of 1980–1990, several
significant policies were formulated that included the
‘National Policy for Rehabilitation of the Disabled’ and
the ‘National Policy for Education and Rehabilitation of the
Disabled’. Funding limitations and the lack of relevantly
skilled and qualified teachers tended to limit the impact of
such policies. Indeed, up until the end of the 1990s, the
predominant form of education available for children with
© 2014 NASEN
••–••
disabilities was typically only available in special schools.
It was not until 2002 that Pakistan developed and launched
its first policy to promote inclusive schooling for those
students with a disability. However, the implementation of
these policies at classroom levels has remained a challenge
(Khan, 1998; Shahzadi, 2000). Estimates indicated that
by the year 2000, only 2% of children with disabilities
had access to any form of special educational services
(Shahzadi, 2000). Understandably, providing services is a
significant challenge in a country of 180 million, of whom
8.23% have a disability (Bureau of Statistics, 2013; Sultana,
1993). Although Pakistan has the potential to become one
of the world’s largest economies, decades of war and social
instability have left basic services, such as railway transpor-
tation, electric power and educational services, seriously
deficient.
The lack of educational opportunities for children with dis-
abilities has also grown out of inadequate teacher prepa-
ration programmes and a lack of resources for practising
classroom teachers (Hameed, 2003; Hammond and Ingalls,
2003; Sultana, 1993). Recent research from some countries
in the South Asian region suggests that pre-service teach-
ers’ attitudes towards inclusive practices and their levels of
teaching self-efficacy have played a significant role in lim-
iting the implementation of inclusive practices in schools
(Ahsan, Deppeler and Sharma, 2013; Sharma, 2011;
Sharma et al., 2013). However, similar research on pre-
service teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion is almost non-
existent in Pakistan. Therefore, it was the aim of the
present study to examine both attitudes towards inclusion
and the self-efficacy of pre-service teachers in Pakistan,
with a view to estimating how the two variables may
impact on their ability to teach children with disabilities
within inclusive classrooms. In what follows, inclusive
education and teaching self-efficacy are defined, and then
the importance of regular classroom teachers’ attitudes
towards having children with disabilities in their classroom
is discussed. In turn, the impact that teaching self-efficacy
has on teachers’ ability to implement inclusive classroom
practices is articulated. Finally, details of the present study
are described.
Although no official definition of inclusive education is
available in Pakistan, anecdotal evidence suggests that
1
Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, •• ••–••
‘inclusive education’ refers to the physical placement of a
student with a disability in a regular classroom. This defi-
nition and understanding are in sharp contrast to what is
recognised as inclusion in Western countries. Florian (2005,
p. 32) defines inclusion ‘as the opportunity for persons with
a disability to participate fully in all of the educational,
employment, consumer, recreational, community, and
domestic activities that typify everyday society’. In the
present study, teaching efficacy is defined as the measure of
the belief that a teacher has in his or her ability to effectively
meet the learning needs of all students included in his or her
regular classroom.
There are several key variables that have been identified as
significantly associated with the attitude of pre-service
teachers towards inclusion. The first variable identified was
gender. Research has generally revealed that female educa-
tors tended to hold more positive attitudes towards inclusive
education than did their male counterparts. For example,
Sharma et al. (2008) found that female Australian, Cana-
dian, Singaporean and Hong Kong pre-service teachers’
attitudes towards inclusive education were significantly
more positive than their male counterparts. Romi and
Leyser (2006) and Woodcock (2011) reported similar dif-
ferences between male and female participants in their
studies of pre-service teachers. However, Main and
Hammond (2008) found contrasting results when they sur-
veyed both male and female pre-service teachers’ attitudes
immediately prior to a school experience practicum (Main
and Hammond, 2008).
Although there is some evidence that the successful imple-
mentation of inclusion reforms depends on the willingness
of educators (Sharma et al., 2008), training on how to suc-
cessfully teach with children with a disability in a class-
room has been found to have a positive influence on
educators’ attitudes towards inclusion (Avramidis and
Norwich, 2002; Loreman and Earle, 2007; Savolainen
et al., 2011). It would also appear that attitudes among
pre-service teachers towards teaching children with dis-
abilities in regular classrooms are relatively easy to change
during teacher preparation programmes (Campbell,
Gilmore and Cuskelly, 2003) Indeed, previous research has
shown that pre-service teachers who had received training
in inclusive educational practices (Brownlee and
Carrington, 2000; Loreman et al., 2005; Savolainen et al.,
2011) and who had higher levels of tertiary education
(Sharma et al., 2008) held more positive attitudes towards
inclusive education. In line with these findings, Oswald and
Swart (2011), and Forlin and Chambers (2011), found that
pre-service teachers who had completed teacher education
programmes focusing on education of students with special
educational needs were more willing to include students
with disabilities in their classrooms. However, despite being
sensitised to the benefits of inclusive education, the same
teachers articulated practical concerns about how they
would implement inclusive practices in their own class-
rooms. Indeed, Palmer (2006) considers that teaching self-
efficacy is a crucial factor affecting the ability of a teacher
to effectively teach children with disabilities.
2 © 2014 NASEN
Teaching self-efficacy is also thought to have a significant
impact on the way teachers educate students in inclusive
classrooms (Avissar, 2000; Avramidis and Norwich, 2002;
Forlin, 1998; Hsien, 2007; Soodak, Podell and Lehman,
1998). Research in this areas suggests that higher and more
positive self-evaluation by teachers of their capability to
teach children with diverse needs is closely linked with
more positive attitudes regarding inclusion of such children
(Ahmad, Sharma and Deppeler, 2013; Gibson and Dembo,
1984; Soodak and Podell, 1994). In the context of inclusive
education, a teacher with higher levels of teaching efficacy
was also more likely to implement inclusive practices to
bring about change in the learning of all students (Sharma,
Loreman and Forlin, 2012). Knowledge about using inclu-
sive practices appeared to be related to levels of teaching
efficacy and positive attitudes towards inclusive education
(Hsien, 2007). Teachers with low teaching self-efficacy
spent more time on non-academic tasks and used less
effective teaching strategies that, in turn, hindered student
learning (Savolainen et al., 2011; Sharma et al., 2012).
Interestingly, teachers with higher levels of teaching effi-
cacy about their own teaching were more likely to employ
effective teaching strategies and to persist with students
who had low levels of interest in their academic work
(Savolainen et al., 2011; Sharma et al., 2012).
A number of researchers have looked into factors that
might influence teachers’ self- efficacy to teach in inclu-
sive classrooms (Ahmad et al., 2013; Savolainen et al.,
2011; Sharma et al., 2012). For example, Baker (2005)
found that pre-service teachers enrolled in primary teacher
education programmes had higher levels of teaching effi-
cacy to teach children with disabilities than those teachers
who were enrolled in secondary teacher education pro-
grammes. Other researchers (e.g., Gao and Mager, 2011)
have found that pre-service teachers with higher levels of
teaching efficacy towards inclusive education tended to
show more positive attitudes towards including children
with different sociocultural diversities in their classrooms.
In summary, the acquisition of basic knowledge and
instructional strategies in the execution of inclusive prac-
tices is regarded as a crucial aspect of teacher preparation
because it can change their attitudes and sense of teaching
self-efficacy towards teaching children with disabilities in
a regular classroom.
Although research on pre-service teachers’ attitudes and
teaching self-efficacy towards inclusive education are seen
as increasingly important sources from which to inform
teacher education practices in Western countries, such
research is lacking in countries such as Pakistan. Therefore,
undertaking similar research in Pakistan was considered to
be of value not only for government policy-makers and
educators, but also in the long term for students with dis-
abilities themselves. The aims of the research were the
following:
• To identify differences between pre-service teachers’
attitudes and teaching self-efficacy towards inclusive
education based on demographic variables

• To determine if there was a significant relationship
between pre-service teachers’ attitudes and teaching
self-efficacy towards teaching in an inclusive
educational setting
Method
Participants
Data were collected from 194 pre-service teachers at a
public university in Pakistan. Of the 194 pre-service teach-
ers in the present study, 62% were female (N = 121), 37%
were male (N = 73) and 89% (N = 173) were around 30
years of age. Most of the participants had already com-
pleted a bachelor’s degree (N = 135, 69.6%), while 51
(26.3%) had also completed a master’s degree. Only three
(1.5%) participants had reported secondary schooling as
their highest qualification, with the remaining five partici-
pants (2.6%) holding other forms of post-secondary school
diplomas. Less than half (N = 68, 35.1%) of the participants
indicated that they had previously interacted with a disabled
person, while the remaining 64.9% (N = 126) had no such
previous contact. Slightly more than half had received no
previous training in educating students with a disability
(N = 98, 50.5%), 34.5% (N = 67) received less than 4 hours
of training, while 14.9% (N = 29) received more than 4
hours of training. Knowledge about relevant legislation
(National Council for the Rehabilitation of Disabled
Persons ordinance, 1982 (Government of Pakistan, 1982)
was limited, with only 3.1% (N = 6) classified as having
what was considered to be ‘very good’ knowledge, 24.7%
(N = 48) with ‘good’ levels of knowledge, while 34% (N =
66) had ‘average’ and ‘poor’ 9.3% (N = 18) levels of knowl-
edge, and finally 28.9% (N = 56) reported they had ‘no’
knowledge of the legislation.
With regard to teaching efficacy towards teaching students
with disabilities, only 6.7% (N = 13) reported ‘very high’
levels of confidence, whereas 25.3% (N = 49) reported
‘high’ levels of confidence teaching a student with a dis-
ability. In contrast, 39.7% reported ‘average’ levels of con-
fidence, 16.5% (N = 32) reported ‘low’ levels of confidence
and 11.9% (N = 23) reported ‘very low’ levels of confidence
teaching students with disabilities. Related to the previous
figures is the knowledge that just over 40% (N = 81) had
never taught a child with a disability, although 24.2% (N =
47) had some experience and 34.0% (N = 66) had at least 30
days of experience teaching a child with a disability.
Finally, all participants were in one of the four programmes
being offered to pre-service teachers: these included 53
Masters of Education in Special Education (M.Ed-SE) stu-
dents, 37 Bachelor of Education (B.Ed-SE) in special edu-
cation, 38 Master of Education students (M.Ed-G) in the
regular education programme and 66 Bachelor of Education
(B.Ed-G) students in the regular education programme.
Instrumentation
A three-part survey was used to collect data.
Part one: demographic information
Part one of the survey instrument sought information about
the level of training, gender, age, highest level of qualifica-
© 2014 NASEN
Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, •• ••–••
tion, documented disability (if any), previous interaction
with people with a disability, previous training, knowledge
of disability legislation/policies and level of confidence in
teaching students with disabilities.
Part two: Attitudes towards Inclusive Education Scale
Five items from the ‘Attitudes towards Inclusive Education
Scale’ (Wilczenski, 1995) were used to measure partici-
pants’ attitudes towards inclusive education. The items used
in this study were those that were found to be strong dis-
criminators of participants’ attitudes (Forlin et al., 2007)
and were found to be highly reliable across an international
sample of educators (Sharma et al., 2008). The reliability
for the five-item attitude scale was recalculated for the
current study. The alpha coefficient for the current study
was 0.62, suggesting that the shorter attitude scale had
reasonable reliability (although on the lower side) for a
Pakistani cohort (DeVellis, 2003).
Part three: Teacher Efficacy in Inclusive Practice (TEIP)
The TEIP scale (Sharma et al., 2012) measures pre-service
teachers’ teaching efficacy beliefs towards inclusive prac-
tice. Sharma et al. (2012) described the scale development
procedures along with its validity and reliability. This scale
has a total of 18 items along three factors: efficacy to use
inclusive instruction, efficacy in collaboration and efficacy
in managing behaviour. An example of an item is as
follows: ‘I can accurately gauge student comprehension of
what I have taught’. Each item can be responded to on a
6-point Likert-type classification, with responses ranging
from strongly agree (6), agree (5), agree somewhat (4),
disagree somewhat (3), disagree (2), to strongly disagree
(1). The TEIP yields a total score that is obtained by adding
the value of responses on each item. The value of the total
score can range from 18 to 108. Higher scores on the TEIP
suggest that a respondent is relatively more efficacious
about teaching students with diverse learning needs in an
inclusive classroom. Sharma et al. (2012) reported a reli-
ability coefficient of .91 for the scale. Internal consistency
of the TEIP was calculated for the Pakistan sample using
Cronbach’s alpha and was found to be .84. Alpha coeffi-
cients for the three previously mentioned factors were
all above .61 (efficacy to use inclusive instructions = .73
and efficacy in collaboration = .74, efficacy in managing
behaviour = .61), suggesting that they were sufficiently
reliable (except the last factor) for use in the present study.
Considering we used total scale scores for all of the data
analysis, lower alpha score for the third factor was of
limited relevance to this study.
Procedure
Two hundred survey questionnaires were distributed in
class, and the participants were asked to complete and
return the survey to their lecturer upon completion. Partici-
pants were informed that the completion of the survey was
voluntary, and they could withdraw from the study at any
time. They were also informed that their responses were
anonymous. Data were collected from only those pre-
service teachers who were in their final phase of training as
the purpose of this study was to determine how confident
3
Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, •• ••–••

the participants were to teach in an inclusive classroom
just prior to finishing the university teacher education pro-
gramme. It was assumed that the attitudes and teaching
efficacy beliefs formed at the final stages of the preparation
of their teaching programme are likely to be sustained
during the early years of their teaching career (Ahmad
et al., 2013). Six surveys were discarded before data entry
because of significant amounts of missing information.
Results
Relationship between demographic variables and
pre-service teachers’ attitudes to inclusive education
Table 1 presents the results for pre-service teacher groups
based on demographic variables. A series of one-way analy-
ses of variance (ANOVAs) was conducted with partici-
pants’ attitudes and teaching self-efficacy towards inclusive
education as dependent variables. Post-hoc analysis using
Scheffe’s test was undertaken to determine significant sub-
group differences where a variable had more than two cat-
egories. Scheffe’s test is recommended for post-hoc
analysis when the number of participants in subgroups is
unequal. It also provides more conservative estimates for
subgroup differences. For each variable that was found to
have a significant relationship with participants’ attitudes,
eta-squared values (η2) were also calculated to determine
the effect sizes (see Table 1).
Significant differences in participants’ attitudes were noted
based on gender. Pre-service male teachers (M = 2.91) held
significantly more positive attitudes towards including stu-
dents with disabilities in mainstream classrooms compared
with their female counterparts (M = 2.73) [F(1,193) = 4.43,
P < 0.05].
Significant differences were also found in the participants’
attitudes by degree type and subject major in which they
were enrolled [F(3,193) = 9.65, P < 0.001]. For example,
Scheffe’s post-hoc test revealed that graduates in the B.Ed
(general education) programme had significantly more
positive attitudes (M = 3.04) towards inclusive education
than participants in B.Ed (special education) (M = 2.44),
M.Ed. (special education) (M = 2.76) and M.Ed (general
education) (M = 2.76). Also, attitudes of participants in the
M.Ed (special education) programme (M = 2.76) were sig-
nificantly more positive than the participants in the B.Ed
(special education) (M = 2.44) programme.
Surprisingly, pre-service teachers with ‘nil’ level of training
in special education expressed significantly more positive
attitudes (M = 2.93) towards educating students with a
disability than those pre-service teachers who had ‘some’
(M = 2.58) or ‘high’ (M = 2.87) level of training in special
education [F(2,193) = 7.98, P = 0.000].
Finally, pre-service teachers with ‘nil’ experience in teach-
ing students with a disability reported significantly more
positive attitudes (M = 2.90) to teach students with a dis-
ability in an inclusive setting compared with those

Table 1: Analysis of variance for variables significantly related to the attitude mean scores
Demographic variables N M (SD) F η2
Training to teach in
Primary 51 2.99 (0.49)
Secondary 68 2.87 (0.52) 8.06*** 0.078
Special education 75 2.60 (0.65)
Gender
Male 73 2.91 (0.52) 4.43* 0.023
Female 121 2.73 (0.62)
Nature of programme
B.Ed general education 66 3.04 (0.57) 9.65*** 0.132
B.Ed special education 37 2.44 (0.72)
M.Ed general education 38 2.76 (0.54)
M.Ed special education 53 2.77 (0.38)
Level of training to teach
None 98 2.93 (0.53)
Some 67 2.58 (0.60) 7.98*** 0.077
High 29 2.87 (0.61)
Level of experience for teaching
Nil 81 2.90 (0.55)
Some 47 2.83 (0.54) 3.60* 0.036
High (at least 30 full days) 66 2.65 (0.64)

*P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001.

4 © 2014 NASEN
 Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, •• ••–••

pre-service teachers who had ‘some’ (M = 2.83) or ‘high’
levels (M = 2.65) of experience prior to enrolling in the
teacher education programme [F(2, 193) = 3.60, P < 0.05].
Relationship between demographic variables and
pre-service teachers’ teaching-self efficacy scores
Table 2 presents results of ANOVA analysis in relation to
participants’ teaching self-efficacy scores.
Significant differences were found in participants’ teaching
self-efficacy scores when they were grouped according to
their subject major [F(3,193) = 40.03, P < 0.000]. Partici-
pants who were being trained to teach in special schools had
higher levels of self-efficacy beliefs [M = 5.20 for B.Ed
(special) and M = 5.04 for M.Ed (special)] towards teaching
students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms compared
with those pre-service teachers who were training to teach
children in regular schools [B.Ed (general), M = 4.44; M.Ed
(general)].
Similarly, those pre-service teachers who reported not
having a documented disability thought themselves to be
significantly more efficacious (M = 4.76) to teach students
with a disability in inclusive classrooms compared with
those pre-service teachers who indicated having a disability
(M = 4.35) [F(1, 193) = 6.92, P = 0.00]. Pre-service teachers
with ‘high’ level of training reported significantly higher
levels of teaching self-efficacy (M = 5.25) to educate stu-
dents with a disability than those pre-service teachers who
had ‘no’ training (M = 4.50) [F(2, 193) = 37.03, P = 0.000].

Table 2: Analysis of variance for variables significantly related to the teaching self-efficacy mean scores
Demographic variable N M (SD) F η2
Training to teach in
Primary 51 4.59 (0.32)
Secondary 68 4.42 (0.48) 59.68*** 0.385
Special education 74 5.12 (0.36)
Nature of programme
B.Ed general education 66 4.44 (0.41) 40.03*** 0.387
M.Ed general education 53 4.56 (0.45)
B.Ed special education 37 5.20 (0.37)
M.Ed special education 38 5.04 (0.33)
Documented disability
Yes 11 4.35 (0.25) 6.92** .035
No 183 4.76 (0.51)
Level of training to teach students in inclusive classroom
None 98 4.50 (0.44) 37.03*** 0.279
Some 67 4.86 (0.45)
High 29 5.25 (0.36)
Knowledge of local policies/legislation relevant to children with disability
None 56 4.52 (0.47) 8.01** 0.145
Poor 18 4.49 (0.37)
Average 66 4.80 (0.49)
Good 48 4.93 (0.49)
Very good 6 5.20 (0.51)
Confidence in teaching students with disabilities
Very low 23 4.53 (0.41) 9.17*** 0.163
Low 32 4.52 (0.49)
Average 77 4.70 (0.46)
High 49 4.89 (0.48)
Very high 13 5.29 (0.51)
Level of experience for teaching students with a disability
Nil 81 4.47 (0.41) 42.95*** 0.31
Some 47 4.67 (0.48)
High (at least 30 full days) 66 5.11 (0.39)

**P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.

© 2014 NASEN 5
Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, •• ••–••
Likewise, pre-service teachers with ‘very good’ level of
knowledge (M = 5.20) about policy or legislation pertaining
to children with disabilities were significantly more effica-
cious compared with those pre-service teachers who had
‘average’ (M = 4.80), ‘poor’ (M = 4.49) and ‘no’ (M = 4.52)
knowledge [F(4, 193) = 8.01, P = 0.000]. Pre-service teach-
ers with ‘very good’ level of confidence had significantly
higher level of teaching self-efficacy (M = 5.29) in teaching
students with disabilities compared with those with ‘low’
(M = 4.52) or ‘very low’ (M = 4.53) level of confidence
[F(4,193) = 9.17, P = 0.000]. Regarding the prior level of
teaching experience to teach students with a disability, pre-
service teachers with a greater teaching experience (M =
5.11) were significantly more efficacious towards inclusive
education than pre-service teachers with ‘nil’ level (M =
4.47) or ‘some’ level (M = 4.67) of experience teaching
children with disabilities (F = 42.95, P = 0.000).
Relationships between pre-service teachers’ attitudes and
self-efficacy beliefs towards teaching in an inclusive
educational setting
A significant negative relationship between the parti-
cipants’ attitudes and their self-efficacy scores was
found (r = −.165, P < 0.05), suggesting that as their attitude
towards inclusive education improved, their self-efficacy
towards teaching in an inclusive educational setting
diminished.
Discussion
This study examined the attitudes and efficacy beliefs of
pre-service teachers towards inclusive education in the
Pakistani context. Pre-service teachers preparing to teach in
special schools (both bachelor’s and master’s programmes)
were found to hold less positive attitudes compared with
graduates in the B.Ed general education programme. This
finding is in sharp contrast to the majority of past research
(Sharma et al., 2008). It may be that just completing a
teacher education programme is insufficient to foster posi-
tive attitudes towards inclusive education, and it may be that
what is covered during the programme is also critical. A
major focus of the special education programme in Pakistan
is largely based on a medical paradigm of inclusion. Par-
ticipants completing the course learn more about the causes
and characteristics of persons with various disabilities. It is
possible that such a programme raises participants’ level of
anxieties as they often think about deficits of participants
rather than their abilities. Also, it is possible that partici-
pants are reflecting on their past experiences of attending
regular schools where they never came across students with
disabilities, and they find it difficult to understand how a
student with a disability could be included in a regular
classroom. Furthermore, the difference in their attitudes
may be linked to the fact that the training imparted to many
pre-service teachers in Pakistan is focused on teaching stu-
dents in segregated special settings with limited or no focus
on how to include students with disabilities into regular
schools. Such attitudes could be a true reflection of their
lack of preparedness to include diverse student groups into
regular schools in Pakistan. This study highlights a need to
6 © 2014 NASEN
conduct a qualitative study to more comprehensively under-
stand participants’ attitudes.
This study also revealed that the pre-service male teachers
held more positive attitudes towards inclusive education in
comparison to their female counterparts, which stands in
contrast to the findings of Western studies (Avramidis,
Bayliss and Burden, 2000; Ellins and Porter, 2005). In the
absence of extensive and in-depth data from male partici-
pants, it is difficult to explain these results, but it is worthy
of further investigation in the future as Pakistan is a male-
dominated society. A qualitative approach using in-depth
interviews with pre-service male and female teachers could
shed some light on these results. Participants who have
come into direct contact with people with disabilities held
more positive attitudes towards inclusive education com-
pared with those participants who indicated no such
contact. Similar results are also reported by earlier studies
(e.g., Bradshaw and Mundia, 2006; Loreman et al., 2005). It
was found that most of the pre-service teachers had never
had direct contact with people with disabilities. This finding
has an important implication for teacher educators and
policy-makers alike. Systematic exposures to people with
disabilities during teacher education programmes could
facilitate the development of positive attitudes in the key
stakeholders of inclusion imperatives.
In this study, pre-service teachers who were enrolled in
special education programmes reported higher levels of
teaching self-efficacy in comparison to those who enrolled
in general education programmes. This finding suggests
that participation in special education programmes would
have provided them with a range of skills to work effec-
tively with students with disabilities that ultimately could
have improved their teaching efficacy scores. Participants
in general education programmes did not learn about
working with students with disabilities. Hence, their lower
teaching self-efficacy scores compared with their special
education suggest that they may not be as confident in
teaching in inclusive classrooms as their special education
counterparts (Forlin et al., 2007). The results of the study
revealed counterparts significant differences in pre-service
teachers’ responses on the TEIP scores between those who
had some experience of teaching students with disabilities
in their classroom and those pre-service teachers who
lacked such experience. This supports the popular assump-
tion that ‘experience enhances confidence’. Avramidis
et al. (2000) support this finding and state that as teachers’
experience with children with diverse needs increased,
their confidence/efficacy to teach these children also
improved significantly.
Pre-service teachers with high levels of training showed
more positive beliefs about their ability to educate students
with disability. Hsien (2007) supports this finding and con-
cluded that teacher training for inclusion at a pre-service
level prepares pre-service teachers for the challenge of the
inclusive classroom environment and contributes to higher
levels of efficacy. This study confirms that appropriate train-
ing not only influences participants’ attitudes positively, but

it also builds up their teaching efficacy beliefs. These two
attributes have the potential to influence the learning envi-
ronment for children with disabilities and to create more
inclusive classrooms.
Another significant finding of this study relates to the rela-
tionship between pre-service teachers’ attitudes and effi-
cacy beliefs towards inclusion. A negative correlation was
found to exist between both these variables. Pre-service
teachers with more positive attitudes had low levels of
teaching self- efficacy to teach students with disabilities,
and pre-service teachers with higher efficacy beliefs had
negative attitudes towards inclusion. The relationship was
opposite to what most researchers have found in the past
(Gao and Mager, 2011). It is hard to explain these results
in the absence of additional data from participants with
higher levels of teaching efficacy, and poor attitudes or
with poor level of teaching efficacy and high level of posi-
tive attitudes. One possible suggestion is that some knowl-
edge or experience alerted pre-service teachers to the
challenges they might face in an inclusive classroom. It is
also possible that the factors that shaped educators’ atti-
tudes in Pakistan are different from the factors that shaped
their teaching efficacy, thus making an assumption that
both these factors should have shown the same trend as
most past research may be erroneous. A weak but signifi-
cant correlation between the two variables does suggest
that only a very minor variation in attitudes could predict
their efficacy scores or vice versa. A large variance in
either their attitude or teaching efficacy scores remains
unexplained.
Hamre and Oyler (2004) suggest that teacher preparation is
flawed. It is idealistic and unrealistic, and the teaching
contents do not match various worldwide contexts. The
complexities surrounding the concept of inclusion and
teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion call for further
research and discussion among professionals working with
teacher trainees and teachers working with children with
disabilities. It could be suggested that the rectification of
factors like the promulgation of overriding policies on
inclusion, adaptation to school norms, scarcity of resources,
and non-cooperative and curbing environment (Avramidis
and Norwich, 2002; Romi and Leyser, 2006) is necessary
and must be addressed in shaping future developments.
According to United Nations Children Fund for Education
(2003), there is a large gap between contemporary educa-
tion and special inclusive education in Pakistan. More
emphasis is placed on cognitive and technically oriented
skills in the curricula and teaching skills. The affective
domain needs to be attended to more fully in the training
and education of teachers for children with diverse needs.
The research reported here has provided information about
pre-service teachers’ perceived efficacy levels and their
beliefs about inclusion. It appeared that participants were
generally positive in their beliefs and had reasonable level
of teaching self-efficacy to teach in inclusive classrooms.
On face value, these findings look very promising, but in
reality is this true? More research needs to be conducted
using observational methodology to determine how closely
© 2014 NASEN
Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, •• ••–••
data on self-reported attitude and teaching efficacy beliefs
are reflected in classroom practices employed by survey
participants.
Countries in the Asian region are at a critical stage of
educational reforms. A large majority of the countries in
the region have now signed international declarations and
have passed legislation promoting inclusive education.
This study shows, albeit to a small extent, that teacher
education in these countries may need to closely examine
and reform the teacher education curriculum. We cannot
afford to graduate teachers who have poor attitudes and a
low level of teaching self-efficacy beliefs. We need to have
graduates who firmly believe in inclusive education and
who are confident and committed to implementing inclu-
sive practices. Unless this shift occurs within teacher
education programmes, countries in the region are likely
to face challenges in implementing international decla-
rations and national legislation relating to inclusive
education.
Address for correspondence
Umesh Sharma,
Krongold Centre, Faculty of Education,
Monash University,
Room G10A, Building 5, Wellington Road,
Melbourne, Vic. 3800,
Australia.
Email: umesh.sharma@monash.edu.
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