This study was a pioneering attempt to determine the statistical effect of inclusive education teachers’ self-efficacy on their work motivation. Five hundred and thirty-four inclusive education teachers in Beijing, China, participated in the study through responding to two inventories: the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices Scale and the Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale. Results suggested that age, experience in teaching students with special educational needs, training, and subject taught had statistical influence on teacher self-efficacy but not on work motivation. Teacher self-efficacy made a unique positive contribution to three of the four types of work motivation examined, with efficacy in using inclusive instructions, efficacy in collaboration, and efficacy in managing behaviour demonstrating the strongest predictive effect on introjected regulation, identified regulation, and intrinsic motivation, respectively. The findings enrich the literature on self-efficacy and on work motivation in an inclusive education context, and have practical implications concerning teacher preparation for inclusive education.

This study aims to explore the perspectives of resource room teachers (RRTs) on their role transformation from regular education teachers to special educators and its influencing factors. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 RRTs from inclusive education schools in Beijing, China. This study found that the RRTs have experienced three stages of role transformation moving from confusion by the new job to conflict among multiple expectations and then to being professionalised as special educators with self-determination. They struggled with multiple roles, felt marginalised and deprofessionalised, and were dominated by a categorical perspective serving students with special educational needs. Moreover, clearly authorised full-time positions, professionalisation, administrative support, and attitudes towards inclusive education were found to be key determinants in RRTs’ successful role transformation. The present study concludes that RRTs should be empowered with clear expectations of their roles and responsibilities to lead inclusive education practices in schools and guarantee a stable professional status via sustainable training.

The mental well-being of PhD students is a major concern in higher education. However, very few studies have investigated the influencing factors of PhD students’ subjective well-being (SWB) – an important indicator of mental well-being. Even no study on the influencing factors of PhD students’ SWB has been undertaken in mainland China. Based on job demands–resources theory, the present study pioneers the investigation of the relationship between PhD students’ psychological capital (PsyCap; comprising self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism) and SWB (comprising positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction) in mainland China. It further examined the mediating role of academic engagement (comprising vigor, dedication, and absorption) in this relationship. PhD students (n = 376) from two comprehensive universities in Jiangsu province responded to an online survey. The results showed that (1) self-efficacy was positively associated with life satisfaction, hope was positively associated with positive affect, optimism was significantly associated with all three dimensions of SWB, but resilience was not significantly associated with any of the three SWB dimensions; and (2) dedication mediated the relationship between hope and life satisfaction and that between optimism and negative affect and life satisfaction, but vigor and absorption did not mediate any of the PsyCap–SWB relationships. Limitations and practical implications of this study are discussed.

Inclusive education teachers’ psychological commitment to their schools plays an important role in improving high-quality education for students with special educational needs. This study aimed to examine the effect of inclusive education teachers’ work motivation on their organisational commitment and the mediating role of job crafting in this relationship. A total of 534 inclusive education teachers in Beijing, China, participated in this study. The results suggested that after controlling for demographic factors (i.e. age, years of experience teaching students with SEN, subject taught, and training), controlled motivation positively predicted maladaptive commitments, while autonomous motivation positively predicted adaptive commitments and negatively predicted maladaptive commitments. Furthermore, skill, task, and role crafting were the main mediators in the relationship between work motivation and organisational commitment. This study argues that the effect of teachers’ motivation to be engaged in inclusive education on their commitment to schools could be explained by the internalisation of the value of inclusive education; such internalisation could be facilitated by improving teachers’ competence in meeting the needs of students with special educational needs (SEN). The theoretical contribution, practical implications, and limitations are discussed.

This study compared attitudes towards inclusive education and organizational commitment, as well as their relationship, amongst three types of teachers working in Chinese inclusive education schools. A total of 623 teachers, including general education teachers (n = 168), inclusive education teachers (n = 246), and resource room teachers (n = 209), from 112 elementary schools in Beijing, China, participated in this study. The results showed that the resource room teachers and inclusive education teachers had more positive attitudes and scored higher on adaptive commitments than the general education teachers did. The resource room teachers also scored higher than their colleagues on maladaptive commitments. The teachers who had received training related to inclusive education had more positive attitudes and scored higher on adaptive commitments than those who had not received such training. After controlling for age and training, in general, positive attitudes towards inclusive education positively predicted the teachers’ adaptive commitments and negatively predicted their maladaptive commitments, with different components of their attitudes demonstrating different predictive power with respect to organizational commitment across the three types of teachers. The theoretical contributions, practical implications, and limitations of the study are discussed.