Knowledge, Attitude, and Self-Efficacy of in-service Preschool Teachers Towards Inclusion of Autistic Children

Inclusive early childhood education is a best practice for ensuring equal quality education, social experiences, learning, or developing for all children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. However, autistic children often face isolation, exclusion, or marginalisation until restriction in early childhood educational opportunities to fulfilment their differentiated needs. Teachers play a vital role in implementing inclusive education. Therefore, this study aimed to examine in-service preschool teachers’ knowledge on ASD characteristics, their attitude, and self-efficacy towards inclusion of autistic children. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was conducted with 152 Malaysian in-service mainstream preschool teachers using non-probability of snowball sampling. The findings indicated that most of the preschool teachers in this study had an average knowledge on ASD characteristics, as well as their attitude, and self-efficacy towards the inclusion of autistic children. A positive correlation was found between preschool teachers’ knowledge on ASD characteristics and their attitude towards the inclusion of autistic children. A negative correlation was also found between preschool teachers’ attitude and their self-efficacy towards the inclusion of autistic children. The findings suggest that teachers’ professional development and training program focused on autism-specific characteristics and inclusive pedagogical practices are essential for in-service teachers. These programs can enhance teachers’ knowledge about autism, foster positive attitude, and promote self-efficacy competence in educating and supporting the academic, social, and communicative skills of autistic children in mainstream classrooms. In conclusion, preschool teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy are crucial for successfully implementing the inclusion of autistic children in early childhood education.