Validation of the Portuguese version of the self-efficacy scale for physical education teacher education major toward children with disabilities

Abstract

Considering the pertinence in analysing the validation process and the psychometric properties of self-perceptions assessment instruments and taking into account that to date there is no survey developed and validated in the Portuguese language on the self-efficacy of teachers toward the inclusion of students with disabilities, the purpose of this study was to analyse the psychometric properties and the factor structure of the Portuguese version of the Self-Efficacy Scale for Physical Education Teacher Education Majors towards Children with Disabilities (SE-PETE-D) (Block et al., 2013), called the Escala de Autoeficácia na Educação Física Inclusiva (EAE-EFI). The participants were 222 Physical Education teachers from elementary, middle and secondary schools in Portugal, 127 males and 95 females, aged between 21 and 60 years (M=36.39, SD=13.15). Results showed high values ​​of internal consistency (α=.96 for the global scale), with values between .64 e .78 for the test re-test. However, a number of the cut-off values ​​associated with the goodness of the fit indexes of the theoretical model (NFI, CFI, RMSEA) presented certain restraints. The Portuguese version of the SE-PETE-D shows good results with regard to its internal consistency and its temporal stability, and can be an important assessment tool to analyze the self-efficacy of PE teachers and future PE teachers toward the inclusion of students with disabilities in Portuguese speaking countries.