Future teachers' social competences for inclusion

Abstract

© 2019, FACTEACHEREDUCATION. All rights reserved. The aim of the research was to examine students' social competences at teacher education faculties, relevant for the implementation and improvement of educational inclusion. The research involved 374 students of two teacher education faculties in the Republic of Serbia - 207first-year and 171 fourth-year students. The applied instrument was designed for the research purposes, composed as a combination of a questionnaire and a Likert-type scale. The results showed that the interviewed students have positive attitudes towards situations that indicate the existence of empathy and low social distance towards people who are different; they respect diversity and have a sense of social justice; they approach disabled people's problems from the position of their constraints. The fourth-year students showed more positive attitudes on these issues, which led us to conclude that they have greater social competences for participation in inclusive education. The results of the research indicate the need for continuous assessment of students' competence for inclusion, which would be the initial step in improving differentiated programmes that stimulate and develop these competences.