Typology of Future Teachers’ Attitudes toward Inclusive Education

In this article, the authors systematize the results of a study on the attitude of future teachers towards inclusive education, identify and describe the risks and resources within various typologies regarding changes related to inclusion. The aim of the study is to develop a typology of students by the nature of their attitude to inclusive education and to identify differences between students studying at universities with different training models: individual educational trajectories and the traditional curriculum. The empirical study was implemented using the author’s questionnaire (S. Ignatjeva), which was filled out by 323 students: 129 students of Tyumen State University and 194 students of Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University named after V.P. Astafiev. In order to classify respondents according to their attitude towards inclusive learning, in the second part of the questionnaire, respondents were asked to rate 22 indicators on a Likert scale, reflecting their opinion on the advantages and disadvantages of inclusive learning. The survey results were analyzed using factor and cluster analysis. 4 factors were identified in the students’ attitude to inclusion: the resources of inclusion, the risks of inclusion, the gap between inclusive theory and practice, and educational exclusion. Cluster analysis allowed us to identify three groups of students with different attitudes to inclusion. The resources for “idealists” can be their positive attitude and general positive attitude towards IO problems, and the risk is underestimating the difficulties. “Restrained optimists” risk overestimating the traditional approach to solving the problems of inclusive education, but they can be more effective due to a balanced position. “Pessimists” overemphasize the external conditions of inclusion and are afraid of the problems and difficulties caused by change. At the same time, they understand the resources of inclusion. The results obtained can be taken into account when designing educational programs at the university, allowing to take into account the wide heterogeneous context.