Abstract

ABSTRACT

Teacher Self - Efficacy And Successful Inclusion: Profiles and Narratives of Eight Teachers
Kathleen Maika

The purpose of this research is to better understand the relationship between teacher self - efficacy as defined by Albert Bandura and general education elementary school teachers’ ability to create inclusive classrooms for Students with Learning Disabilities (SWLDs).
Seven general classroom teachers and one education consultant from some elementary schools participated in this study. All seven general classroom teachers were women and the one consultant was male. The study is based on two journals generated by each of the seven participating teachers, using questions prepared by the researcher, followed by a one-on-one interview. The aim was to gain a better understanding of their access to resources, feelings of preparedness, stressors and knowledge of Learning Disabilities (LDs) and inclusive practices in regular classrooms. Each teacher had at least one LD student in their classroom. The teacher narratives do illustrate the links between teachers’ levels of self-efficacy and inclusive practices. They also support the literature indicating that the higher levels of self-efficacy result in higher levels of inclusive practices by the teachers but there are also many mitigating factors