International Journal of Inclusive Education ISSN: 1360-3116 (Print) 1464-5173 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tied20 Perceived efficacy of teachers in Macao and their alacrity to engage with inclusive education Elisa Monteiro, Angus C. H. Kuok, Ana M. Correia, Chris Forlin & Vitor Teixeira To cite this article: Elisa Monteiro, Angus C. H. Kuok, Ana M. Correia, Chris Forlin & Vitor Teixeira (2018): Perceived efficacy of teachers in Macao and their alacrity to engage with inclusive education, International Journal of Inclusive Education, DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2018.1514762 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2018.1514762 Published online: 29 Aug 2018. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 11 View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=tied20 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2018.1514762 Perceived efficacy of teachers in Macao and their alacrity to engage with inclusive education Elisa Monteiroa, Angus C. H. Kuoka, Ana M. Correia a, Chris Forlin b and Vitor Teixeiraa aSchool of Education; Faculty of Social Sciences, University of St. Joseph, Macao, People’s Republic of China; bInternational Inclusive Education Consultant, Bayswater, Australia ABSTRACT KEYWORDS This paper reports findings of a mixed methods study examining Inclusive education; teacher private school teachers’ perceptions of efficacy in dealing with the efficacy; teacher education; challenges presented by inclusive education in Macao. This is Macao highly pertinent after the Government invited consultation to propose changes to amendments of the Decree Law of 1996 concerning the education of students with Special Education Needs (SEN) which will likely see private schools being required to accept these students in the future. Within the context of teacher preparedness for inclusive education, the study found that a number of teachers felt that they were not at all prepared to teach students with SEN. Whilst some teachers suggested that they lacked skills and knowledge in teaching in inclusive classrooms, some felt overwhelmed with the challenges. The teachers proposed that they would need to know how to provide instructional adaptations and modifications to support students with SEN. Implications for continuous development of teacher training and education are discussed within the context of improving teacher efficacy and how private school teachers could better respond to the challenges of inclusive education in Macao. Introduction As a former Portuguese colony, Macao was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1999 and is now a special administrative region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China. Although it remains an autonomous territory, it is under the one country two systems rule. Situated in Southern China with an area of approximately 30.5 square kilometres, Macao is con- sidered the most densely populated region in the world. Its economy is heavily dependent upon gambling and tourism. Under Portuguese rule the education system developed mainly from private organisations rather than government. In the 2016–17 school year the majority of students (>96%) were educated in the 64 private schools with the govern- ment providing a further 10 schools. In the same year, approximately one half of the private schools and nine government schools were accepting students with mild special needs in the regular classroom. Some students were also included in special education classes and others in segregated special schools. The majority of students with special CONTACT Chris Forlin [email protected] © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group 2 E. MONTEIRO ET AL. education needs were either educated in public schools or in segregated private schools. In the Macao context special education is considered to be education that is provided to stu- dents with moderate to high support needs for a disability. This is provided through a regime of segregated special schools that are mainly provided by non-government agencies or religious groups. Only students with mild disabilities who can achieve the same learning outcomes as their peers are included in regular schools. Similar to Hong Kong, Macao has a strong Confucian heritage and deep-rooted tra- ditions regarding children with disabilities (Tait, Mundia, and Fung 2014), and transform- ing schools into inclusive environments has been slow. Regular school teachers in Macao have, therefore, had limited exposure to students with special educational needs and further report that they have received insufficient training about special or inclusive edu- cation (Forlin 2011). In Macao the education law (Decreto-Lei n.° 33/96/M, Governo de Macao 2015 ) aims to provide equity in education (Direcção dos Serviços de Educação e Juventude, 2015). This law also addresses the provision of special education (Lau and Yuen 2010). In 2015, the Government invited consultation to propose changes to amendments of this law (Teixeira et al. 2018). In particular, aspects associated with supporting learners with special education needs (SEN) were to be revised. The consultation document proposed that changes be made in the special education system and instigated discussion about inclusive education (Direcção dos Serviços de Educação e Juventude 2015). These pro- posed changes to the legislation are likely to impact on schools and teachers. Schools will need to restructure themselves if they are to expand their intake to cater for increasing numbers of students with SEN. In addition, teachers will need to be better prepared to accommodate the diversity of this new entry of students. Private schools in Macao are faced with difficulties in hiring teachers with either experi- ence in teaching students with SEN or training in inclusive education. Findings from pre- vious cross-cultural research (Malinen, Savolainen, and Xu 2012) have linked experience in teaching students with disabilities with positive attitudes, beliefs, and an increased sense of efficacy. It is thus very important to develop empirical research on teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, and efficacy about teaching in inclusive settings, to know whether the move for including all learners is being well supported by teachers’ attitudes about the process. Without teachers’ willingness and preparedness, it will not be possible to effectively translate the new legislation into inclusive practices. Research findings (e.g. Copfer and Specht 2014) have demonstrated that teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about disability and their responsibility to nurture and teach students with SEN are paramount in the pursuit to change schools from a segregated education system to more inclusive one. In order to work effectively in inclusive settings, it is not sufficient to only possess positive attitudes and beliefs towards people with disability/inclusion. A sense of efficacy is necess- ary. Teacher efficacy is defined as a belief in their capability to carry out the planning and delivering actions required to successfully teach diverse students. It is not just about whether teachers can ‘handle’ the inclusive classroom, but also about their confidence in choosing the strategies that promote success (Lancaster 2014). It has been found that teacher efficacy affects teacher levels of effort, planning, organisation, persistence, and reliance on others. ‘Specifically, teachers with a high sense of efficacy utilise more beha- viours that have the potential to enhance student learning and motivation’ (Lancaster 2014, 240). Previous research also suggests that teachers’ efficacy affects teachers’ INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION 3 classroom management skills (Ahsan, Sharma, and Deppeler 2012; Park et al. 2016). Indeed, Martin, Linfoot, and Stephenson (1999) proposed that teachers’ responses to classroom misbehaviour may be mediated by their confidence with their ability to deal with student behaviour. Applied to the teaching field, Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy (Bandura 1977) suggests that teachers with a low sense of efficacy may put less effort in their work, may be easily overwhelmed by challenges, and may be more uncertain on their capability to affect the students’ outcomes. Within the field of education, a number of researchers have used the concept of efficacy to investigate teachers’ perspectives and several scales have been developed to measure this (e.g. Malinen, Savolainen, and Xu 2012). Another area of need in regard to preparing for inclusive education is that of teacher preparation. The need for more education about inclusive education consistently appears in the literature (McCullough 2005). A lack of appropriate or sufficient teacher education is considered a potential reason as to why children with disabilities are unable to access school (Save the Children 2009). Specifically, teacher education insti- tutions do not appear to be preparing teachers, during their initial training, with the skills to cater for diversity in the mainstream classroom (e.g. Sharma et al. 2006; Singh 2009). Further, ongoing teacher education is similarly a significant factor in the success of inclusive education (Leko and Roberts 2014). Teaching in an inclusive classroom will require training to help prepare teachers to use differentiated instruction, assessment, and learning strategies for mixed-ability classrooms (Tomlinson 2014). Teacher education programmes must consider the attitudes, beliefs, and concerns of teachers and ensure that they