Pre-Service Primary School Teacher University Training for Inclusive Education in the Czech Republic and Ukraine: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

The present exploratory study examines pre-service primary school teacher university training in inclusive education in the Czech Republic and Ukraine. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), attitudes, subjective norms, and self-efficacy of first- and last-year students were assessed. The overall differences in item scores between first-year and last-year students are in both countries small and insignificant. These results suggest that the potential of professional training is not fulfilled. Therefore, we suggest further proactive university curriculum development based on the research-supported forms of training.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Miroslav Bielik

Miroslav Bielik is a PhD student at Masaryk University in the Department of Psychology. His research interests are developmental science, inclusive education, psychodiagnostics, and populations with disadvantages. These topics overlap in the field of dynamic assessment. Inspired by the work of L. Vygotsky, R. Feuerstein, and other scholars, he studies how education and psychodiagnostics can help individuals to achieve their full potential.

Lenka Ďulíková

Lenka Ďulíková is a PhD student at Masaryk University in the Department of Social Pedagogy. Her professional focus is a cooperation between teaching assistants and teachers in Czech and Finnish education. As a researcher, she participates in projects focusing on inclusive education, respectful communication, and personal and social development. As a teacher, she participates in training future teaching assistants and teachers.

Olha Rotko

Olha Rotko is a postgraduate student at Zaporizhzhia National University in the Department of Psychology. She is aware, that inclusive education presents teachers with significant challenges. Therefore, she focuses her research on personal teacher readiness for inclusive education.

Nataliia Voronska

Nataliia Voronska is an assistant at Zaporizhzhia National University in the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology of Educational Activity. Her research focuses on the development of communication skills, and educational psychology, specifically in the context of inclusive education.