Inclusive Education across Secondary, High School, and Vocational Training: Teachers’ Perceptions of Barriers, Resources, and Training Needs

This qualitative study explores teachers’ perceptions of inclusive education in Compulsory Secondary Education, Baccalauteate, and Vocational Education in Extremadura, Spain. Forty-seven in-service teachers participated through semi-structured interviews, selected using convenience and snowball sampling until theoretical saturation was reached. Data were manually transcribed, reviewed by two independent researchers, and analyzed with NVivo 14 using a mixed inductive–deductive coding approach. The findings reveal substantial gaps in teacher training for inclusion, particularly regarding the identification of students with specific educational support needs and the implementation of curricular adaptations. Teachers expressed concerns about the availability and limitations of resources: although some schools have specialists, they highlighted the lack of other professionals, insufficient materials, and structural barriers. They also showed positive attitudes toward continuing professional development but criticized its overly theoretical focus and limited transfer to school practice. Overall, the study underscores the urgent need for more practical and contextually grounded training, together with stronger institutional support, to foster effective inclusive practices in post-compulsory education, where significant shortcomings remain, particularly in their practical implementation within real educational settings.