Inclusive Education in Japan and Korea--Japanese and Korean Teachers' Self-Efficacy and Attitudes towards Inclusive Education

The current study aims to evaluate teachers' self-efficacy and attitudes towards inclusive classrooms in Japan and Korea. Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES; Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk, [Tschannen-Moran, M., 2001]) and Scale of Teachers' Attitudes Towards Inclusive Classrooms (STATIC; Cochran, [Cochran, H., 1998]) were completed by 191 Japanese and 102 Korean teachers. The study found that Korean general education teachers' self-efficacy was higher than Japanese general teachers. However, no significant differences were found between Japanese and Korean special education teachers. Within the Korean group, general teachers had higher self-efficacy but less positive attitudes towards inclusive education than special education teachers. Korean special education teachers were the least confident in teacher-to-teacher collaboration, while Japanese teachers were the most confident in such collaboration. Both Japanese and Korean teachers expressed a strong demand for in-service training. Some of the implications of the findings are discussed in relating to the differences between Japanese and Korean teacher preparation systems. [Paper presented at the Inclusive and Supportive Education IV Conference Congresso Internacional da Pró-Inclusão (8th, Lisbon, Portugal, July 26-29, 2016).]