A Multilevel Analysis of Attitudes towards Inclusive Education among Teachers of Students with Developmental Disabilities in China: School Factors Matter.
Build teacher confidence with emotional support, strong leadership, and bite-size training to make inclusive classes work.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team surveyed 1,286 Chinese teachers who work with students with developmental delays.
They asked about school support, leadership style, training hours, and the teachers’ own confidence.
Stats showed which factors lifted positive views of inclusive classrooms.
What they found
Three school gifts—emotional support, transformational leaders, and steady training—raised teacher self-efficacy.
Higher self-efficacy then boosted pro-inclusion attitudes.
In plain words: confident teachers welcome kids with delays.
How this fits with other research
Camodeca et al. (2020) heard parents and educators say the same thing: school culture decides if kids with ASD take part.
Roudbarani et al. (2023) found clinicians skip autistic youth when they feel unsure—same confidence gap, different hallway.
Wang et al. (2023) show family money helps Chinese kids with ID via parent attitudes; Xie et al. (2026) show school-side attitudes matter just as much.
Together the papers draw one map: attitudes at home and at school both shape success.
Why it matters
You can’t fix inclusion by lecturing teachers. Give them emotional backup, strong leaders, and short, useful training. Watch their confidence grow—and their doors open wider for every learner.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Schedule a 15-minute teacher check-in this week: ask what support they need, then book a micro-training on that topic.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
PURPOSE: Teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education (ATIE) are crucial for educating students with developmental disabilities. The school environment plays an important role in shaping teachers' ATIE. This study aimed to examine the effects of three school factors (i.e., perceived school support, perceived principals' leadership, and in-service training) on teachers' ATIE and the mediating effect of self-efficacy in the relationships. METHODS: A total of 972 teachers who taught students with developmental disabilities in 49 inclusive elementary schools in Beijing, China, participated in this study. Multilevel analysis was performed to analyze the data. RESULTS: After controlling for demographics, at the school level, administrative support (one dimension of perceived school support) positively predicted teachers' ATIE. At the individual level, teachers' ATIE were positively predicted by emotional support (one dimension of perceived school support) and in-service training, but negatively predicted by transactional leadership (one dimension of perceived principals' leadership). Self-efficacy mediated the positive effects of transformational leadership (one dimension of perceived principals' leadership), emotional support, and in-service training on ATIE. CONCLUSION: Administrative support, emotional support, transformational leadership, and in-service training are conducive to fostering positive ATIE among teachers of students with developmental disabilities, and the underlying mechanism is explained by the mediating role of self-efficacy.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2026 · doi:10.1080/02188791.2014.934781