Teacher self-concept and its association with willingness to include children with special needs in regular classes: Teacher empathy as a mediator

Abstract

More appealing is the inclusive education practice that recognizes diversity among children than practices that lead to inequality in education. However, there have been implementation challenges including the rejection of children with special needs (CWSNs) in regular classes by teachers. Given this, the study attempted to build an empirical model to explain associations between teacher self-belief system and socio-emotional factors and their willingness to include CWSNs in their classes. The sample size consisted of 316 teachers. Using path analysis, findings showed, among others, that the conceptual model fit the data satisfactorily, and that teacher self-concept had direct effects on teachers' willingness to include CWSNs in their regular classes. Teacher cognitive selfconcept was a better predictor and its impact was significantly mediated by teacher empathy. It was concluded that willingness for inclusion could be influenced by teacher belief system and socio-emotional characteristics.