What Predicts Teachers' Acceptance of Students with Special Educational Needs in Kindergarten?.

Despite attempts of educators and policy makers in promoting inclusive education through training and provision of extra resources, it remains unclear what is the most influential factor that may reduce teachers' resistance to and increase their advocacy of inclusive education. Teachers who have been trained in special education are usually expected to be more accepting of inclusive education. With training, kindergarten teachers would probably be more positive about placing students with special educational needs in regular settings with students without special educational needs. Trained kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong (N = 275, all female) were surveyed on three factors (their knowledge about policies regarding inclusive education, efficacy in teaching in inclusive settings, and government initiatives) that might influence two outcomes of advocacy (their resistance to inclusive education or endorsement of the inclusion of students with special educational needs). Confirmatory factor analysis defined the five distinct factors. Structural equation modelling found that of the three predictors, teachers' sense of efficacy was the strongest predictor of both advocacy outcomes. The findings imply that increasing teachers' knowledge through training or providing teachers with more resources may not be sufficient to increase teachers' advocacy of inclusive education. Instead, to better promote inclusive education, teacher education and governmental support should focus more on building teachers' efficacy in inclusive settings.