Learning from people with disabilities: Investigating effects on pre-service teachers' beliefs and practices in inclusive education.

BACKGROUND

Teachers' beliefs are conducive to inclusion at school. Based on the intergroup contact theory, this study examined short  - and long-term effects of an innovative contact intervention on pre-service teachers' beliefs and inclusive practices.

METHOD: Using a pre-post-follow-up design, data were collected from N = 356 pre-service teachers in university teacher training, divided into an intervention group attending a seminar session with people with intellectual disabilities as lecturers and a comparison group following the standard curriculum.

RESULTS

Structural equation modelling indicated that the intervention influenced pre-service teachers' beliefs (attitudes, modern prejudices, self-efficacy) in the short term; there was no evidence of long-term effects, such as on inclusive practices.

CONCLUSION

Incorporating interactive contact with people with disabilities into university teacher training could be an additional contribution to preparing teachers for inclusive education. An appropriate target for future research is to explore the mechanisms underlying changes in inclusion-related beliefs.