Exploring Teacher Education For Inclusion: A Qualitative Analysis Of Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions From Sweden And The Czech Republic

Questioning whether preparation for inclusive education is effectively integrated into teacher training programmes, this study aims at conceptualising pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their study programme’s preparation for inclusive education and their feeling of being prepared to teach inclusive classrooms. By conducting semi-structured interviews with pre-service teachers from Sweden and the Czech Republic, a comparison of the respective study programmes’ approaches to inclusive education and their effects on the students is achieved. The interview transcripts were analysed via qualitative content analysis (Mayring, 2000). While this study found an overarching appreciation of and/or wish for more input on inclusive education, there were also some differences to be found in the Czech and Swedish pre-service teachers’ perceptions. While the Czech participants perceived their study programme’s input for inclusive education as insufficient and too theory-heavy, the Swedish participants appeared confident that they would be able to apply their theoretically gained knowledge in their future classrooms, as practised at university. Students felt prepared to teach inclusive classrooms because of, for example, instances of active engagement with inclusive teaching paradigms and peer discussions in the university context. Still, participants from both countries were intimidated by obstacles embedded within the respective national school systems. Observing (inter)national tendencies and discrepancies in teacher education for inclusion, this study provides insight into the student perspective to inspire a reassessment of teacher training programmes to effectively cater to pre-service teachers’ needs in the future.