A person-centred examination of inclusive teachers’ beliefs about teaching students with intellectual and developmental disabilities: profiles and relations to teacher efficacy

AbstractIn a person-centred approach, this study investigated profiles of inclusive teachers’ beliefs about teaching students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their relations to teacher efficacy for inclusive practice. Eight hundred eighty-seven inclusive teachers in China responded to the Inclusive Teachers’ Beliefs Questionnaire and Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice Scale. Results revealed four belief profiles of inclusive teachers: limiting, transitional, mixed and constructive. For teachers with limiting, transitional and constructive belief profiles except for mixed belief profiles, beliefs about inclusive instruction and beliefs about students with IDD were significant predictors of teacher efficacy for inclusive practice. The findings enrich international literature on inclusive teachers’ beliefs and have practical implications for inclusive teacher education based on different belief profiles.Keywords: inclusive educationteachers’ belief profilesteacher efficacyintellectual and developmental disabilities Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Hangzhou Social Science Outstanding Young Talents Cultivation Program; Hangzhou Social Science Planning Project under Grant Z22JC054; Zhejiang Provincial Education Science Planning Project under Grant 2022SCG021; and Hangzhou Education Research Teacher Education Project under Grant 2022JSJY007.