‘I never feel like I am prepared enough’: Teachers' self‐efficacy, challenges and experiences teaching students with disabilities

This article investigated teachers' self‐efficacy, educational practices, challenges and support for students with disabilities in the inclusive classroom. Students with disabilities face many adversities today, such as rejection, stigma, discrimination and lack of support in the classroom. We...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of research in special educational needs 2024-07, Vol.24 (3), p.758-770
Main Authors: Alharbi, Hind, Iqtadar, Shehreen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Classroom observation
Classrooms
disabilities
Disability studies
Discrimination
Educational Practices
Efficacy
experiences
Inclusive education
Individualized Education Programs
Individualized Instruction
Interdisciplinary aspects
Interviews
phenomenological approach
Professional development
self‐efficacy
Stigma
Students with disabilities
Teachers
Teaching
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article investigated teachers' self‐efficacy, educational practices, challenges and support for students with disabilities in the inclusive classroom. Students with disabilities face many adversities today, such as rejection, stigma, discrimination and lack of support in the classroom. We employed an interdisciplinary and pluralistic approach (Baglieri et al., 2011; Connor et al., 2011) embedded in disability studies in education (DSE) and self‐efficacy theory to explore in‐service teachers' experiences in the field of inclusive education. We used a phenomenological approach and conducted eight teachers' semi‐structured interviews and classroom observations. We used purposeful sampling among teachers who work with students with disabilities. We used inductive analysis techniques to analyse the qualitative data collected from interviews and classroom observations. This study's findings reveal the importance of teachers' preparation, attitude and self‐efficacy to support students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms; the use of differentiated instruction strategies to meet the student's needs and increase their academic outcomes; and highlight the challenges, which include the lack of professional development, lack collaboration among teachers lack of parents' communication and lack of regular IEP meeting.
ISSN:1471-3802
1471-3802
DOI:10.1111/1471-3802.12666