French teachers’ general attitude toward inclusion: the indirect effect of teacher efficacy

AbstractThe inclusion of children with special educational needs is a major challenge. Amongst the factors linked to a successful inclusive education policy, teachers’ attitude toward inclusion is particularly important. The present paper seeks to understand why general teachers exhibit less favourable attitude toward inclusion than special education teachers. We argue that general teachers’ low sense of efficacy can act as a mediator. To investigate this hypothesis, general and special education teachers were asked to report their attitude and efficacy. Results confirm that general teachers have less positive attitude toward inclusion than special education teachers. In addition, a mediational analysis confirmed that this discrepancy is partly sustained by general teachers’ lower sense of efficacy. Limits as well as future perspective are discussed.