Education for all in action: Measuring teachers’ competences for inclusive education

Discussion While the pursuit of inclusive education is influencing policy agendas of countries across the globe [3], it can be considered a wicked problem as it is characterised by normative plurality, institutional complexity and scientific insecurity [8,10]. This article aims to help grasp the issue by validating the DISCO-instrument, which measures teachers’ beliefs and sense of effi- cacy towards diversity in education. In what follows, we discuss not only the factorial structure arising from the data, but also explore what this unveils on teachers’ thinking about diversity in the classroom. The questionnaire consists of two parts: beliefs and sense of efficacy. Teacher beliefs consist of 36 items in total, and includes beliefs about student diversity and beliefs about the Table 3. (Continued) Beliefs on different types of diversity Schools’ responsibility for EfA To what extent do you agree with . . .? Ethnic minorities Gender Disability SES Ethnic minorities Disability General policy C6.08 It is sensible to not send students to special educational support too quickly. 0.671 C6.09 The school’s infrastructure must be made accessible at all levels to people with physical and sensory disabilities (vision, hearing, motor). 0.548 C6.10 You cannot expect the teacher to meet the needs of a child with a disability in mainstream education. 0.580 C6.13 Teachers must be capable of working with students from different home situations. 0.608 C6.14 Students from families with financial problems should be provided with

appropriate support (e.g. payment plan, special support fund for students who cannot pay the school fees). 0.688 C6.16 A teacher can make a difference for students from all kinds of home environment. 0.527 C6.21 As a school, it is important to break the traditional divide between subjects that are stereotypically for boys or for girls. 0.571 C6.44 It is every teacher’s job to contribute to a school policy that is mindful of diversity. 0.629 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291033.t003 Table 4. Descriptive statistics of scale-scores. Mean SD Range N Efficacy in Noticing diversity 5,06 1,48 0–8 524 Enabling interactions 5,88 1,23 0–8 524 Creating learning environments 5,32 1,34 0–8 524 Collaborating with parents 5,09 1,55 0,13–8 524 Collaborating with colleagues 5,89 1,56 0–8 524 Beliefs on Ethnic minority students 3,78 0,98 0,5–6 520 Students with a disability 4,20 1,00 1–6 520 The gender binary & sexuality 4,83 0,85 1,75–6 520 SES students 3,38 1,10 0,6–6 520 General school policy 5,00 0,70 2,40–6 520 Policy geared towards ethnicity 2,93 1,21 0–6 520 Policy geared towards disability 3,49 1,12 0–6 520 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291033.t004 PLOS ONE Measuring teachers’ competences for inclusive education PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291033 November 8, 2023 16 / 22