Examining primary education teachers' self‐efficacy and feelings toward teaching pupils with autism in inclusive physical education

Abstract

Teachers' self‐efficacy plays an important role in sustaining inclusive practices, yet limited evidence exists from Central European contexts where systemic support remains developing. The present study examined differences in self‐efficacy and emotional responses toward teaching pupils with autism in general physical education among Slovak primary education teachers. A total of 156 in‐service primary education teachers participated (mean age = 42.14 ± 11.27 years), of whom 62.8% had prior experience teaching pupils with autism. Data were collected using the PESEISD‐A questionnaire. Group differences were analysed using independent‐samples t ‐tests, while associations between self‐efficacy and feelings were examined using Pearson correlations and simple linear regression analyses. Teachers with prior experience reported significantly higher self‐efficacy than those without prior experience ( p  < 0.001), while stress levels were significantly higher than nervousness among experienced teachers ( p  < 0.001). Higher self‐efficacy was associated with lower levels of stress ( r  = −0.528) and nervousness ( r  = −0.534) and was a significant predictor of both emotional responses, accounting for 27.9% of the variance in stress and 28.5% of the variance in nervousness. These findings suggest that teaching experience is associated with higher perceived teaching competence and different emotional responses in inclusive physical education at the primary education level.