This paper is part of a project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities "Inclusive Pedagogy at the university: Narratives by faculty members" (2016-2020). This study aimed to analyse the beliefs, knowledge, designs and actions of inclusive teachers belonging to different educational stages (Early Childhood, Primary, Secondary and University). In particular, this work explores the beliefs of 25 Spanish primary education teachers who develop inclusive pedagogy when planning and implementing actions for all students.

Four research questions guided this analysis: What are the teachers’ beliefs about diversity and inclusive education? What are their beliefs about what characterises them as teachers? What do they think about learning and the capabilities of all their students? What are their beliefs about self-efficacy?

Beliefs, knowledge, designs, and actions are part of the inclusive pedagogy, an approach that responds to the diversity of students to prevent the exclusion of some children in the classrooms (Florian, 2014). In this paper, we only studied the first dimension of analysis to approach inclusive pedagogy: beliefs.

Believing that diversity in schools is possible means regarding differences as opportunities and not as difficulties. Also, teachers’ beliefs influence the teaching-learning process and these can help strengthen and transform their students’ ability to learn (Hart & Drummond, 2014; Klibthong & Agbenyega, 2018). For this reason, they must also have a set of high expectations and beliefs that allow them to rethink their own praxis in order to support the learning of all students and label no student as different (Brennan, King, & Travers, 2019).

The current literature contains studies that show the need for more educational research about the beliefs of teachers, given their relevance and influence on the praxis (Van Uden, Ritzen, & Pieters, 2014) and the planning of teaching and learning processes (Lui, Sarah, & Bonner, 2016).

Sheehy and Budiyanto (2015) revealed that those teachers who implement an inclusive philosophy usually have a constructivist and social approach and a self-concept of facilitators. Likewise, López et al. (2013) and Lui, Sarah, and Bonner (2016) concluded that the constructivist perspective predominates among primary education teachers. Another study revealed that beliefs have an affective component so powerful that they can condition the teacher regardless of their academic knowledge and usual practice (Domović, Vidović, & Bouillet, 2017). This research reviewed the beliefs of university students, who were being prepared to teach in primary schools, about the role of the teacher in relation to teaching students with disabilities.

In short, the categorisation proposed by the last-mentioned authors (educational, teacher role, student learning, and self-efficacy) inspired to organise the results. Unlike in the previous study, it focused on the beliefs of teachers who are already working and currently carrying out inclusive education in their classrooms for all students.

A total of 25 teachers from 11 urban public primary education schools participated in the study. They taught in schools with a high rate of students in a situation of vulnerability and at risk of social exclusion. As regards gender, 18 were women and 7 were men. The average age of the teachers was 43.96 years. Eight teachers were between 34 and 39 years old, ten were between 40 and 49 years old, and seven were between 50 and 57 years old. Regarding their experience, two had taught between 5 and 10, six between 10 and 15, seven between 15 and 20, two between 20 and 25, four between 25 and 30, three between 30 and 35 and one had carried out his profession for over 35. We contacted two Spanish teacher-training centres. The training consultants of these centres were the ones who provided us the contact details of teachers who carried out inclusive pedagogy in primary education. We also used the snowball technique (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2000), by contacting those ‘colleagues’ who were recommended by the initial participants. The design of this study is based on a qualitative approach, being the main instrument for data collection the individual semi-structured interview. In these interviews, four topics were discussed: educational beliefs, beliefs about the role of the teacher, beliefs about learning and students, and beliefs on self-efficacy. We asked each participant three questions: 1) What is diversity in your opinion? And inclusive education? What do you think diversity can contribute to the class? 2) How would you define yourself as a teacher? Which do you think are the characteristics that best describe you best? Why? 3) Why do you think that all children learn the same way? Why? Do you think that some students need to be taught in a different manner? Why? Do you think that there is some student who does not ‘learn all they should’ in the regular classroom, or hinder the progress of other students? Why? All interviews were held face-to-face. Audio recordings were made of all interviews and teachers gave their written consent to being recorded and for the data provided to be used for research purposes. Finally, we transcribed and analysed the information using a system of inductive categories and codes which enabled meaning to be attached to the information gathered (Miles & Huberman, 1994).

It is interesting, among the findings presented in this research, that most of the teachers perceive diversity as a source of opportunity and richness. They understand that each child in the classroom is important, benefits the learning of the group (Florian, 2014), and at the same time, helps them to reflect on and improve their educational practice (Brennan, King, & Travers, 2019; Hart & Drummond, 2014). The participants defined themselves as altruistic, motivated professionals concerned with in-service training and as accompanying components of the teaching-learning processes. Thus, they assumed that the relationship between happiness and learning was considered as an essential ingredient of inclusive pedagogy in the classroom (Van Uden, Ritzen, & Pieters, 2014). The beliefs that teachers have about learning are constructivist (López et al. 2013; Lui, Sarah, and Bonner 2016; Sheehy & Budiyanto, 2015) because they believe in the potential of all students and understand that everyone can learn with and from others (Hart & Drummond, 2014). Furthermore, the participants believed that the competencies that allowed them to reach true inclusion are experience, willingness, training, and vocation (Sheehy & Budiyanto, 2015). However, some participants felt that training in inclusive pedagogy should never stop (Klibthong & Agbenyega, 2018). In this way, our study provides another, more humanistic view of self-efficacy that is precise and demands more research, as reflected in previous studies on implicit theories (López et al. 2013). In conclusion, these perspectives lead to think that a teacher who supports inclusive pedagogy must believe that his/her duty is not to classify but to educate, respect, recognise human rights and consider each student as a free citizen that brings change and culture.

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