Predictive Factors for Teachers' Attitudes towards Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in Regular Schools

This research investigated the factors influencing teachers' attitudes toward including students with disabilities in mainstream schools. The study involved 79 teachers from Ismailia Governorate, comprising 64 general education teachers and 15 special education teachers. To gather data, the researcher used a scale measuring attitudes towards inclusion, a teacher self-efficacy scale developed by the researcher, and a school climate perception scale by Johnson, Stevens & Zvoch (2007).The findings revealed differences in attitudes, teacher self-efficacy, and perceived school climate between general and special education teachers. Notably, special education teachers generally held more positive attitudes and perceptions, except for the "decision-making" and "educational innovation" aspects. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between teachers' attitudes toward inclusion and several variables: their specialization, years of experience working with individuals with disabilities, participation in training, qualifications, teacher self-efficacy, and perceived school climate (excluding decision-making and educational innovation dimensions). The study concluded that specialization, training frequency, years of experience, cooperation in self-efficacy, and the cooperation and decision-making dimensions of school climate collectively accounted for a substantial 83.93% of the variation in teachers' attitudes towards inclusion.