Are teachers' personal values related to their attitudes toward inclusive education? A correlational study

Inclusive education is a major challenge for educational systems. In order to better understand the background to teachers' attitudes toward inclusive education and given that personal values underlie and support attitudes, this research seeks to investigate the link between these two constructs. We tested this relationship in two pre-registered studies in which 326 (Study 1) and 527 teachers (Study 2) completed scales on attitudes, values (Studies 1 and 2), and social desirability (Study 2). Our statistical analyses partially support our hypotheses. Thus, self-transcendence and openness to change were positively related to teachers' attitudes toward inclusive education (Studies 1 and 2), while results regarding self-enhancement were mixed (i.e., related in Study 1 but not in Study 2). Conservation values were not related to teachers' attitudes toward inclusive education. Although these results require further development, notably regarding causality, they provide a new framework for understanding teachers' attitudes and open up new perspectives for training teacher in order to enhance the implementation of inclusive school policies.