Enhancing Diversity and Inclusion in Science Teacher Education: Insights from a Diagnostic Study

As chemistry is deeply intertwined with the solutions of current global challenges, the participation of all societal groups within chemistry is crucial for a just future. Inclusive science education is the first fundamental step toward achieving this goal, highlighting the role of science teachers. Therefore, student teacher education is crucial. This study aims to diagnose the status of chemistry student teachers’ understanding of diversity and inclusion, their attitudes, and their teaching self-efficacy (TSE). A mixed-method design is used to triangulate quantitative and qualitative data, collected within a chemistry student teacher group in their third semester at the University of Munich (LMU). The results show that the participants are generally very confident to teach diverse classes and identify language barriers as one of the main challenges. However, a discrepancy between the TSE and the actual knowledge about inclusive science education practices is found, indicating the need for further awareness toward the role of inclusion within a chemistry classroom and further education on inclusive practices. To support this, both the training of teacher educators and the systematic integration of inclusive practices into student teacher curricula are essential.