Prepared to Ensure Quality Education for All? A Study of PreService Teachers’ Self-Efficacy for Inclusion in Spain and the United States

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set a calendar to make quality education for all effective through SDG4. Teachers being key to achieve this goal, this study examined whether or not future teachers have developed competence to teach inclusively by the time they graduate. Using a survey approach, we gathered data from students of two countries enrolled in two different teacher education pathways. Participants were 330 pre-service elementary school teachers from the US and Spain who completed the TEIP and OLTI scales. Respondents reported a moderate level of self-efficacy for inclusive practice, however, pre-service teachers from the Spanish sample pursuing a general preparation program reported significantly less self-efficacy than those from the US sample enrolled in a dual certification program. Regardless of type of program, there were strong statistically significant differences in perceptions of self-efficacy between those participants who were given sufficient opportunity to learn to teach inclusively and those who did not. Of the two samples, pre-service teachers from Spain consistently reported lower ability in managing classroom behavior, using inclusive instruction, and collaborating with colleagues and families compared to their counterparts from the US. Findings depict that to make progress in quality education for all, competence development for inclusion should be integrated as a core component in any type of teacher education program and teacher self-efficacy regarded as a quality standard indicator for sustainable inclusive practice.