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

Teachers’ beliefs With regard to teachers’ beliefs on diverse learners, two distinct but related aspects are central, namely teachers’ professional beliefs on student diversity and teachers’ beliefs about the responsibility of education towards diverse learners. With regard to the latter, teachers’ view on whether equity is part of the central aims of education and hence, what constitutes the responsibilities of teachers and schools, has a profound impact on shaping their classroom behaviour [21]. However, a meta-review of research in-between 1980 and 2015 shows that teachers tend to report more negative attitudes towards inclusive education than either pupils or parents [4], while a qualitative study shows that teachers who consider it to be the responsi- bility of education to achieve both excellence and equal learning opportunities, tend to devote themselves more completely to realizing quality classes and supporting struggling students from diverse backgrounds [22]. In short, the degree in which teachers consider providing EfA as one of the educational context’s central responsibilities, will be central in shaping their will- ingness to invest time and effort in the creation of inclusive classrooms. Interestingly, respon- sibility of teachers cannot only be assessed with regard to learners, but also regarding colleagues and parents [23]. Research suggests that schools with strong parent-teacher connec- tions are better at realizing maximal developmental chances for their students [11], and that

achieving equitable learning environments requires a shared responsibility and collaboration among teachers [24]. Consequently, in order to really grasp teachers’ competences in creating inclusive education, collaboration with these partners should not be disregarded. Secondly, teachers’ beliefs on learners from diverse backgrounds is of central importance as well, called teachers’ professional beliefs about diversity [25]. These beliefs subconsciously influence teacher behaviour, for instance by involving students for whom teacher have lower expectations less actively in classroom activities or by seeing poor performance as normal [26,27]. This process has a negative impact on both students’ cognitive outcomes and well- being [28]. Importantly, such effects of teacher expectations tend to be especially powerful for at-risk students, such as students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and ethnic minority descent [26]. Hence, in the framework of inclusive education, it is particularly important to understand and assess teachers’ beliefs on teaching diverse learners, to counter the negative self-fulfilling prophecies for these students. Unfortunately, research on teachers’ beliefs towards diverse learners often employs a narrow definition of diversity, for instance by focus- ing only on teachers’ multicultural beliefs [e.g., 29], or beliefs on students with behavioural dif- ficulties [e.g., 30]. While such specific beliefs allow for a fine-grained analysis of educational barriers for particular student groups, it remains unclear how teachers’ beliefs towards several

groups of students relate to each other and whether an overall inclusive mindset among teach- ers exists. Consequently, to fundamentally advance the research on classrooms that are effec- tive for all students, research must consider teacher beliefs towards several groups of students simultaneously. Hence, we propose to assess teachers’ beliefs on diverse learners by assessing 1) teachers’ professional beliefs towards students along important axes of diversity (i.e., ethnicity, disabil- ity, gender & sexual orientation, and socio-economic status) and 2) teachers’ beliefs on educa- tional responsibility with regards to diverse students, parents and colleagues. Teachers’ sense of efficacy In order to realise the maximal learning and developmental outcomes suggested within EfA, inclusion cannot be relegated to the side-lines as being something that some teachers some- times do within the context of specific courses or lessons, or something that only expert teach- ers do after having achieved mastery in “general” teaching tasks aimed at “regular” students PLOS ONE Measuring teachers’ competences for inclusive education PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291033 November 8, 2023 3 / 22