The effect of social support on attitudes towards inclusive education and self-efficacy among pre-service special education teachers in Egypt

Abstract

The primary socializing agents have been found to play a key role in shaping teachers' attitudes. In the realm of inclusive education (IE), one of the most extensively researched themes is teachers' attitudes regarding inclusion. Contrary to a plethora of attitudinal studies that are solely concentrating on describing teacher attitudes, the present study sought to investigate the perceived social support (PSS) perceptions of pre-service special education teachers in terms of their attitudes towards inclusive education and their self-efficacy beliefs (TSE). The population of this correlational research design study consists of 525 pre-service special education teachers from six different colleges of education in Egypt's northern, central and southern big cities. Using a correlation technique and structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, the research data were analysed. The findings revealed that the PSS scales' sub-dimensions indicate having a significant and positive relationship with TSE as well as attitudes towards IE. In addition, research revealed that pre-service special education teachers' PSS significantly predicted their TSE beliefs and attitudes towards IE. The study's findings reflect crucial implications for teacher education policymakers in addressing pre-service teachers' needs of professional learning programmes that should include a career development stage targeted at generating socially supportive role models.