Research Summary: Navigating professional dilemmas in inclusive classrooms: pre-service teachers’ reflective narratives, wellbeing, and emerging professional agency

This analysis focuses on a qualitative study examining pre-service teachers' reflective narratives regarding professional dilemmas in inclusive classrooms. The research, based on 107 narratives from a French initial teacher education program, investigates how these experiences shape their professional judgment, wellbeing, and emerging agency. It highlights that while inclusive education is a key policy, pre-service teachers find these classrooms complex and lacking standardized responses, underscoring a gap in understanding their direct experiences.

Why it matters

Understanding how future educators navigate challenges in diverse learning environments is crucial for developing robust educational policies and effective teacher training programs. Addressing these insights can enhance teacher retention, improve educational outcomes for all students, and ensure the successful implementation of inclusive mandates across educational systems.

Key insights

• Inclusive education is a fundamental policy orientation in contemporary school systems.
• Pre-service teachers perceive inclusive classrooms as complex pedagogical environments where standardized responses are often insufficient.
• Existing research primarily focuses on teacher attitudes and pedagogical strategies for inclusive education.
• There is a knowledge gap regarding how pre-service teachers interpret situated professional dilemmas and their impact on judgment, wellbeing, and agency.
• The study analyzed 107 reflective narratives from pre-service teachers in a French initial teacher education program.

Source

Frontiers in Education — https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2026.1912195