The attitudes teachers hold towards inclusion are one of the most widely researched themes in the field of inclusive education. Contrary to the most attitudinal studies which are solely focusing on examining the impact of a host of factors in the formation of teacher attitudes, the present study sought to link the reported attitudes towards inclusion and teachers’ self‐efficacy for inclusive practices with an actual inclusive instructional approach, that of peer tutoring. Participants were 225 Greek general teachers and 69 special education counterparts who responded to a questionnaire consisting of the Core Perspectives Scale from the My Thinking about Inclusion scale, the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice scale and other scales measuring their attitudes towards peer tutoring. Results indicated that general teachers held neutral attitudes towards inclusion while their special education counterparts held significantly more positive ones. General teachers were found to be less positive in their self‐efficacy for inclusive practices than the special education counterparts with the exception of the managing behaviour dimension. General teachers emphasised mainly the social gains achieved by students participating in a peer tutoring program. Moreover, they considered peer tutoring as an effective means for including students with diverse needs in their classrooms. Importantly, this study found that teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and their self‐efficacy for inclusive practices largely predict their willingness to implement a peer tutoring program in their classrooms. The paper concludes with highlighting the need to offer teachers professional development courses that positively influence their attitudes and enhance their sense of self‐efficacy in implementing peer tutoring.

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There has been a proliferation of studies examining attitudes toward the inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN) in regular education settings. Most studies to date have focused on examining the attitudes regular teachers hold toward inclusion on the assumption that their acceptance of the policy of inclusion is likely to affect their commitment to implementing it. Other researchers have directed their attention to the attitudes held by typically developing children toward their peers with SEN and, to a lesser extent, to the attitudes of parents toward the inclusion of students with SEN in their children’s classroom. Teachers have been found to generally hold positive attitudes toward the notion of inclusion, which are largely affected by the severity of the child’s disability, the level of in-service training received, the degree of prior teaching experience with students with SEN, and other environment-related factors. Typically developing students have been found to hold neutral attitudes toward their peers with SEN. Age, prior experience of studying in inclusive settings, and parental influence seem to influence their attitudes. Studies on parents’ attitudes have revealed neutral-to-positive attitudes toward the general notion of inclusion. Several factors were found to influence parental attitudes, such as their socio-economic status and education level along with their child’s type of disability. Most attitudinal research to date has described static situations through the employment of single methodological research designs. Consequently, there is a need for mixed-method studies that employ coherent and, wherever possible, longitudinal research designs.

BackgroundThe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on educational systems has caused a profound shift in the organization and delivery of education worldwide. The effects of the pandemic crisis on educational systems proved to be detrimental for students with disabilities, highlighting not only the looming social and educational inequalities but also the huge gap in organizational preparedness for education, including identifying the main areas (domains) of preparedness that guide the process of organizational preparedness and the sub-themes (indicators) per domain that help educational organizations to evaluate their level of preparedness and to identify potential gaps and set priorities for preparedness planning.MethodsScoping review with thematic analysis was performed on literature published from 2010 to 2022. Six scientific databases (PsycInfo, Web of Science, Eric, Scopus, Proquest, JSTOR) and one academic search engine (Google Scholar) were examined in order to identify publications (peer-reviewed and preprint) in English. The search strategy and robust eligibility criteria were defined by the authors, who also performed screening of the papers, eligibility decisions, and key data extractions. A thematic analysis was applied to define the organizational preparedness domains and indicators per domain, informed by a system thinking approach for educational organizations. Conflicts were collaboratively resolved after each step. All members of the research team were involved in the data synthesis.ResultsFrom 1,564 publications identified, 216 were included in the final analysis. Six domains and 14 indicators were identified.ConclusionThe organizational preparedness in educational organizations in pandemic crisis times needs to be prioritized in the educational policy agenda, drawing special attention on students with disabilities. The identified preparedness domains and indicators may guide the policy dialogue and inform accordingly a system thinking change approach in education and disability.