Multidimensional assessment of student teachers’ self-esteem and attitudes towards inclusive education and people with disabilities

ABSTRACT This research aims to investigate the relationship between the self-esteem of student teachers, their attitudes towards inclusive education for children with disabilities, and the mediating factor of their attitudes towards people with disabilities. The study involved 562 student teachers from Poland. Significant correlations were found between the student teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion, self-esteem and attitudes towards people with disabilities. Higher self-esteem was associated with more positive attitudes, manifested as thoughts about people with disabilities, emotions felt towards them, and behaviours directed at them. The results show that the correlation between self-esteem and negative attitudes towards inclusion is mediated by negative attitudes towards persons with disabilities. These results correspond to findings pointing to the importance of self-esteem as a psychological resource that affects one’s interpretation of difficulties, life situations, and other people. The correlations of these three complex variables form a basis for a model of how to educate student teachers on inclusion.