Preschool teachers’ competency in inclusive education: construction of a five-dimensional framework and empirical evidence from Chongqing, China
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Against the backdrop of the continuous advancement of inclusive education, kindergarten teachers have become crucial to determining whether the quality of preschool inclusive education can be effectively realized. However, existing studies have tended to examine teachers' attitudes, knowledge, or skills separately, with limited structural explanation of how deep-seated qualities, intrinsic motivation, and explicit practices jointly constitute teacher competency in preschool inclusive settings. This study integrated the Iceberg Model and the Onion Model to construct a five-dimensional framework of kindergarten teachers' inclusive education competency, including inclusive literacy, inclusive knowledge, inclusive motivation, teaching adjustment, and collaborative influence. A two-stage quantitative design was adopted. A self-developed 39-item questionnaire was finalized based on a pretest with 239 kindergarten teachers, and a formal survey was then conducted among 298 kindergarten teachers in Chongqing, China. The results showed that teachers' overall inclusive education competency was above the midpoint, but the five dimensions developed unevenly. Inclusive literacy and teaching adjustment were relatively higher, inclusive knowledge and inclusive motivation were close to the overall average, and collaborative influence was the weakest dimension. Further analyses indicated that backbone teachers and teachers who had received relevant training showed higher levels of competency. Teachers who had contact with children with special needs had higher mean scores across dimensions, but the differences were not statistically robust. Meanwhile, cumulative training duration did not show the expected positive relationship with overall competency, suggesting that training participation and training duration reflect different aspects of professional growth and that accumulated training hours cannot be equated with training quality. The findings indicate that kindergarten teachers' inclusive education competency is not a single reserve of knowledge or skills, but a composite structure comprising deepseated qualities, a knowledge base, intrinsic motivation, and practical abilities. This study provides empirical evidence from western China and offers implications for localized assessment, teacher support systems, and training improvement.
Source: Frontiers in Education
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,353
OpenAlex ID: W7214093277