Viewpoints on inclusive education at the end of initial teacher preparation: Q methodology research

Abstract This study used Q methodology to explore the perspectives on inclusive education held by 44 student teachers completing their initial teacher education (ITE) programme at Qatar University. Participants ranked 44 statements along a quasi‐normal distribution; factor analysis yielded four distinct viewpoints. The first frames inclusion as a shared professional commitment owned by every teacher within a collaborative ecosystem. The second regards mainstream inclusion as structurally unrealistic and assigns responsibility primarily to specialist staff. The third is the most affirmative orientation, grounding inclusion in rights and expressing confidence in its outcomes and systemic feasibility. The fourth combines a genuine moral commitment to inclusion with a critical view that students with special needs are being inadequately supported and that teachers lack the preparation to address this. The coexistence of these four viewpoints within a single cohort that completed the same programme suggests that the current single‐course structure has not produced a coherent or shared professional framework for inclusive teaching. The programme appears to have established a normative baseline around inclusion as a principled commitment while leaving significant gaps in conceptual clarity, professional responsibility and practical readiness. These gaps carry direct implications for ITE programme design, practicum supervision and school‐university partnership.