Training as a Moderator in the Relationship Between Teachers' Perceived Available Time and Their Support of Inclusive Practices

Abstract

This study examined the relationships between teachers' perceptions of current school practices and their support for moving toward more inclusive practices at their school. An inclusion support scale was used to determine teachers' support for inclusion. It was predicted that teachers' perceptions of their school staff's training would moderate the relationship between teachers' perceptions of staff's available time and their support for moving toward more inclusive practices at their school. Although teachers' perceptions of their school staff's available time were related to their perceptions of inclusion, the relationship was not moderated by teachers' perceptions of their school staff's training. The current study also examined teachers' ratings of the helpfulness of 21 inclusion strategies. A reduction of class size based on the needs of the classroom was rated most often as a helpful inclusion strategy, and an exploratory factor analysis revealed support for a three-factor model. Results are discussed in terms of implications for effective strategies to support teachers in inclusive classrooms and future research on teachers' perceptions of inclusion.