A Pilot Survey of Perceived Competence of Pre-Service School Practitioners in Inclusive Education for Students with Special Needs

Authors

  • Zachary Pietrantoni

    Department of Counseling, Recreation, and School Psychology, Florida International University, United States

     

  • Jonathan Chitiyo

    Division of Management and Education, University of Pittsburgh Bradford, United States

  • Yi-Wen Su

    Department of Counselor Education, Portland State University, United States

  • Szu-Yu Chen

    Department of Counseling, Palo Alto University, United States

  • Abigail Stephenson

    Department of Counseling, Recreation, and School Psychology, Florida International University, United States

  • Ailen Fleites

    Department of Counseling, Recreation, and School Psychology, Florida International University, United States

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jiep.v8i1.5570
Received: 21 November 2024 | Revised: 25 March 2025 | Accepted: 1 April 2025 | Published: 21 April 2025

Abstract

Inclusive education provides a learning environment that enriches the learning of all students. Attitudes about inclusive education are essential to its implementation. Therefore, school practitioners need training to advance their attitudes, knowledge, skills, and actions. This study examines the pre-service school practitioners' training and perceived competence in inclusive education for students with special needs. We developed a survey aimed to gain insight into training and perceived competence. Survey results related to training suggest that teacher education and special education majors might benefit from additional training in universal design for learning, co-teaching, and flexible grouping, where school counselor majors might need more training in all categories of inclusive education. Survey results related to perceived competence results suggest that most pre-service school practitioners perceived themselves to be very capable of implementing inclusive educational practices.

Keywords:

Inclusive education; Education; School practitioners; Pre-service

References

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How to Cite

Pietrantoni, Z., Chitiyo, J., Su, Y.-W., Chen, S.-Y., Stephenson, A., & Fleites, A. (2025). A Pilot Survey of Perceived Competence of Pre-Service School Practitioners in Inclusive Education for Students with Special Needs. Journal of International Education and Practice, 8(1), 15–24. https://doi.org/10.30564/jiep.v8i1.5570

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