From Attitudes to Action: An Analysis of The Predictors of Positive Attitudes Towards Inclusive Education in Sixth-Form Teachers

Context: Inclusive education benefits all learners and is recognised as a global priority. Teachers’ attitudes are consistently shown to be central to the success of inclusive practices, yet sixth-form settings remain under-researched compared to primary and secondary phases. This study addresses this gap by examining how personal, professional, and institutional factors predict sixth-form teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion. Aim: The specific aim was to identify which factors most strongly shape positive inclusive attitudes, providing insights that can inform practice and professional development. Method: A total of 106 teachers working in UK sixth-form colleges participated. They completed the Multidimensional Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education Scale (MATIES), which measures cognitive, affective, and behavioural attitudes to inclusive education. Data were analysed using multiple regression to explore how personal (e.g. age, gender, lived experience), professional (e.g. training, role, experience), and institutional (perceived inclusiveness) variables predicted attitudes. Findings: All models were statistically significant, showing that the predictors explained a meaningful amount of variance in attitudes. The most robust predictors were perceived effectiveness of training (p < .01) and lived experience of additional learning needs (ALN) (p < .001). Gender showed a smaller partial effect, with female teachers reporting more positive attitudes on some subscales (p < .05). In contrast, age, teaching experience, job role, and perceived institutional inclusiveness were not significant predictors. Implications: Findings suggest that inclusive attitudes are shaped more by modifiable, experience-based factors than by fixed traits. This adds new evidence to an underexplored area of FE research and highlights the importance of strengthening staff training and valuing lived experience within institutions. In practice, this means FE and sixth-form colleges may be able to cultivate more inclusive teaching cultures by investing in more meaningful professional development and drawing on the perspectives of educators with lived experience.

Keywords (free text)

inclusive education; sixth-form; teacher attitudes; further education; lived experience; teacher training, sixth-form, teacher attitudes, further education, lived experience, teacher training

Permanent link to cite this item

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14069/1125

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Camtree Research Reports - Main Collection