Different Processes Towards Inclusion: A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Teachers’ Self-Efficacy in Japan and Finland

Abstract

This dissertation aims to examine inclusive education from teachers’ points of view in Japan and Finland. Specifically, it has three aims: a) to examine how teachers’ self-efficacy for inclusive practices relates to teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education; b) to assess how teachers’ demographic variables influence their self-efficacy and attitudes; and c) to identify sources of teachers’ self-efficacy that might affect their efficacy beliefs in implementing inclusive education. Data were obtained from a total of 620 Japanese and 1995 Finnish teachers through a survey questionnaire and analysed using statistical methods. The analyses revealed that teachers’ self-efficacy for inclusive practices affected their attitudes positively in both Japan and Finland. In addition, teachers’ experience in teaching students with disabilities had a positive effect on their self-efficacy and attitudes in both countries. However, there were some differences between Japan and Finland. First, teachers’ teaching careers predicted their self-efficacy only in Japan; elder teachers were more confident in Japan, but there was no difference between novice and experienced teachers in Finland. Second, the teachers’ teaching careers had a negative effect on their attitudes only in Finland; elder Finnish teachers held more negative attitudes towards inclusive education. Finally, the amount of inclusive education training affected teachers’ self-efficacy and attitudes positively only in Finland. In regard to the four sources of self-efficacy proposed by Bandura (1997), mastery experience had the strongest independent positive effect on self-efficacy in the two countries. Verbal persuasion made a small but significant contribution to self-efficacy in both countries; however, the effect was positive in Finland but negative in Japan. Further, the four sources of self-efficacy explained 54% of variance in teachers’ self-efficacy in the Finnish sample but 15% in the Japanese sample, indicating there may be other sources that influence self-efficacy in Japan. Overall, the findings of this thesis confirm that teachers’ self-efficacy for inclusive practices was positively associated with their attitudes. Moreover, how teachers’ demographic variables and their sources of self-efficacy predicted their efficacy beliefs differ by country, which emphasises the importance of studying inclusive education within cross-cultural frameworks, taking in to account cultural, historical, political and societal contexts.