Examining the mediating role of teachers' feelings, attitudes, and concerns towards inclusive education in the relationship between teacher efficacy in inclusion and collective teacher efficacy

ABSTRACT EXAMINING THE MEDIATING ROLE OF TEACHERS' FEELINGS, ATTITUDES, AND CONCERNS TOWARDS INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHER EFFICACY IN INCLUSION AND COLLECTIVE TEACHER EFFICACY KILINÇ, Davut MASTER'S DEGREE, SPECIAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Thesis Advisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nesrin SÖNMEZ June 2025, 136 PAGES Inclusive education provides opportunities for students with special needs to learn in the same environment as their typically developing peers. This education shapes social skills as well as academic skills. The feelings, attitudes, concerns towards inclusive education, collective efficacy perceptions and inclusion efficacy of teachers who take an active role in the education process also change. For this reason, the main purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of teachers' feelings, attitudes and concerns towards inclusive education in the relationship between teacher efficacy in inclusion and collective teacher efficacy. The study group consisted of 244 teachers working in public primary, middle, and secondary schools in İzmir province in the 2023-2024 academic year. Teachers' feelings, attitudes, and concerns towards the inclusive education scale, teacher efficacy in inclusion scale, and collective teacher efficacy scale were used as data collection tools in the study. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS software, based on the correlational survey model and structural equation modeling (SEM). According to the findings of the study, there is a negative and significant relationship between teacher efficacy in inclusion and feelings about inclusive education, between concern about inclusive education and teacher efficacy in inclusion, between collective teacher efficacy and feelings about inclusive education, and between collective teacher efficacy and attitudes about inclusive education and concern about inclusive education. It was determined that teachers' feelings, attitudes, and concerns towards inclusive education mediated the relationship between teacher efficacy in inclusion and collective teacher efficacy. The findings of the study were discussed in relation to existing literature, and relevant recommendations were provided. Keywords: Feelings, attitudes, and concerns towards inclusive education, Collective teacher efficacy, Teacher efficacy in inclusion