Since the 1970s many countries have implemented policies supporting integration and, more recently, inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN) into mainstream schools (UNESCO, 2009). Regular school teachers have been identified as key persons influencing students’ academic performance and development and are responsible for the implementation of inclusive education (Meijer, 2003). However, studies show that many in-service teachers feel insufficiently trained and lack support to effectively accommodate all students within heterogeneous classrooms (Blanton, Pugach, Florian, 2011). While many pre- and in-service teachers claim to support inclusive practices (Avramidis, Bayliss, & Burden, 2000), managing challenging academic or social-emotional student behaviors is a main concern (Killu, 2008; Lambe & Bones, 2006). Research findings show that attitudes and fears concerning inclusive education might vary as a function of different teacher-dependent variables e.g. years of professional experience; students-related aspects, e.g. type of special education problem; or environment-based factors, e.g. school recourses, support for inclusive practices (Avramidis & Norwich, 2002). One of the most important factors affecting teachers’ attitudes concerning inclusive practice is the type and severity of the students’ special educational needs. Levins, Bornholt, and Lennon (2005) found that attitudes toward students with learning difficulties were more positive than attitudes toward students with behavioral problems (AD/HD).  Also, preservice teachers were more willing to accept students with slight difficulties than students with behavioral and/or emotional disabilities (Ward, Center, & Bochner, 1994).

A crucial teacher variable affecting  the implementation of inclusive practice  may be teachers’ sense of competence and self-efficacy, i.e. teachers´ belief in their ability and effectiveness to bring about desired outcomes of student engagement and learning, even for students presenting with special educational needs or challenging behavior (Bandura, 1977). According to Bandura’s (1977) theory, self-efficacy is nurtured by perceived competence, persuasion and/or experienced accomplishments and research indicates teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs are  related to the effort teachers invest in teaching, the goals they set, their persistence in difficult situations and their resilience in the face of setbacks (Sosa & Gomez, 2012; Tschannen-Moran, Hoy, & Hoy, 1998),  Similarly, Gordon and Debus (2002) reported that preservice teachers with high self-efficacy beliefs were more  likely to select more efficient teaching practices. Soodak and Podell (1993) found that teachers´ self-efficacy underlies their special education referrals: regular and special educators with high personal and teaching self-efficacy were more likely to approve of inclusive practice for students with learning and/or behavioral problems compared to educators with low self-efficacy. Although such findings associate teachers’ attitudes and practices with different levels of efficacy, it remains unclear which factors can strengthen efficacy (Klassen, Tze, Betts and Gordon, 2011). Furthermore, in their review Klassen and colleagues (2011), identify measurement issues that compromise self-efficacy research and remark that as links between teacher efficacy and student outcome have not been sufficiently clarified, the implications of efficacy research for educational practice are uncertain.

Therefore, the current experimental study investigates to what extent perceived competence and self-efficacy concerning the inclusion of students with SEN influence preservice teachers’ judgments of the seriousness of students’ problems and pedagogical actions. More specifically it was expected that:

–      Preservice teachers see themselves as competent and efficacious , whereby both implicit and explicit teacher self-efficacy are positively related to perceived competence

–      Preservice teachers suggest different pedagogical actions in accordance to the seriousness and type of students’ problems (learning difficulty versus behavioral problems)

–      Implicit and explicit self-efficacy and perceived competence are related to teachers’ suggested pedagogical actions: higher self-efficacy and higher competence lead to more targeted pedagogical actions according to SEN type

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