The relevance of sources of support for teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs towards students with special educational needs

The move to include students with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream education is one of the priorities of educational reform agendas in many countries. In Flanders (Belgium) the aim is to implement a more inclusive school system, but it faces resistance from practitioners. The aim of this study is twofold: (1) to compare teachers’ student-specific self-efficacy levels in relation to students with and without SEN, and examine the contribution of teacher-related and student-related variables in predicting teachers’ self-efficacy (TSE); (2) to examine how sources of teacher support that favour including students with SEN influence TSE. A survey was conducted among regular primary and secondary school teachers (N = 629). The results showed that TSE is lower regarding students with multiple diagnoses compared to students with one diagnosis, and lower regarding students with socio-emotional and/or behavioural disorders compared to students with learning disabilities. In addition, teachers’ use of Cooperative sources of support, such as team teaching, observation and feedback, supervision, and student support within and outside the classroom for students with SEN, predicted higher levels of TSE. These findings suggest that investing in these forms of support can improve teachers’ competency in dealing with students with SEN and reduce their resistance to inclusive education.