Within the framework of implementing inclusive education in primary schools, various questions arise concerning the role of teachers’ personal resources in their everyday practices in heterogeneous classrooms. Teachers’ professional personalities as well as their intentions concerning inclusive teaching are considered to be important prerequisites for successful learning environments. Therefore, we examined the relevance of primary school teachers’ personal resources, such as their attitudes towards inclusion and their perceived collective self‐efficacy beliefs concerning inclusive teaching, in terms of their everyday practices in heterogeneous classrooms on the basis of the ‘Theory of Planned Behaviour’. We investigated N = 290 primary school teachers’ everyday practices according to their attitudes towards inclusion, their collective self‐efficacy beliefs concerning inclusive education, their perceptions of school management’s expectations and their intentions regarding inclusive education. The results of our study indicate that primary school teachers’ everyday practices in heterogeneous classrooms are significantly predicted by their intentions regarding the implementation of inclusive education and by their attitudes towards inclusive education but not by their collective self‐efficacy beliefs or by their perceptions of school management’s expectations. Specifically, the effect of teachers’ attitudes on their everyday practices in heterogeneous classrooms is significantly mediated by their intentions regarding the implementation of inclusive education.

This study examined the psychometric properties of the German version of the Teacher Inclusive Education Self‐Efficacy Scale (TIESES). Five hundred and nineteen teacher education students from Austria and 765 teacher education students from Germany participated in the study. Results of a multiple‐group confirmatory factor analysis (for the two countries) confirmed a single factor structure of the scale with partial scalar measurement invariance. Regression analysis showed that self‐efficacy when implementing inclusive education was explained by the motivation to deal with inclusive education during their studies, previous experience with inclusive education in internships, study interest and the country in which the students went to university.

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Children with special educational needs often feel lonely in classrooms, are less accepted by their classmates and have fewer friendships. Their classmates’ positive attitudes towards them are important for their social participation in inclusive classrooms. According to the theory of social referencing, children’s attitudes towards peers with special educational needs are influenced by the role model behaviour of their parents. Therefore, we examined the relevance of children’s perceptions of parental behaviour in terms of their attitudes towards peers with learning disabilities. This was done by investigating N = 753 children’s attitudes, depending on their perceptions of parental behaviour towards peers with special educational needs, their contact experiences and their self‐efficacy beliefs concerning their interpersonal skills. The results indicate that their attitudes are predicted by their perceptions of parental behaviour, their contact experiences and their self‐efficacy beliefs. The effect of perceived parental behaviour on children’s attitudes is mediated by their self‐efficacy beliefs.