Measuring teachers' attitudes and intentions towards inclusion: Portuguese validation of Attitudes to Inclusion Scale (AIS) and Intention to Teach in Inclusive Classroom Scale (ITICS)

Successful implementation of inclusive practices depends on the extent of which school educators believe in this and are well prepared to implement include all learners. It is therefore relevant to study the variables that influence pedagogical practices of educators to teach in inclusive classrooms, namely attitudes and intentions regarding inclusion. This study was undertaken to test the psychometric validation of Attitudes Towards Inclusion Scale (AIS) and the Intention to Teach in an Inclusive Classroom Scale (ITICS) for Portugal. The sample comprised 171 teachers (86% female) in primary and secondary schools. The results confirmed the two-factor structure of the original versions of the AIS (beliefs and feelings) and ITICS (curriculum changes and consultation). Teachers with inclusion training had more positive attitudes and higher level of intentions than their colleagues without training in this area. We analysed the correlations between attitudes, intentions, and perceived efficacy relative to inclusive practices as an indicator of concurrent validity and found adequate indicators of internal consistency (omega = 0.70 to 0.94) and convergent and discriminant validity. Our analysis suggests that adding new items to ITICS can further enhance the psychometric properties of the scale. We discuss implications of our research for researchers, educators and policy makers.