The Relationship Between Educators’ Inclusive Education Attitudes and Subsequent Teaching Behaviours: A Quantitative Study in Vanuatu

Abstract Policy reform in many remote or developing nations focuses on quality education and inclusive education practices, yet many schools are ill-prepared to enact these reforms. In this study, we examined the attitudes and observed teaching behaviours of 27 educators towards inclusive education in Vanuatu schools. Attitudes were measured using the Teacher Attitudes to Inclusion Scale (TAIS), and inclusive practices were observed using the Effective Teaching Practices Checklist (ETPC). Both instruments were administered before and after a professional learning (PL) workshop and time provided for the participants to implement their new learnings. Results indicated that participants’ attitudes towards inclusive education were quite high on the TAIS scale and had a nonsignificant change; however, significant gains were observed across all five ETPC subscales ( p < .001) of Classroom Organisation and Order, Behaviour Management, Lesson Planning, Lesson Delivery and Reinforcement, and in particular Adaptive Instruction. These findings suggest that although attitudinal shifts were modest, the targeted PL was associated with meaningful improvements in inclusive classroom practices. The results highlight the value of context-specific training to support inclusive education implementation in remote and developing contexts.