The role of empathy in support for inclusive education

According to UNESCO, educating all children in the same classrooms, with adequate support and taking into consideration their different needs, provides benefits for everyone. However, public opinion about inclusive education is rarely uniform and often unsupportive. While public support for placing pupils with special needs in regular classes is crucial for both legislation and the implementation of effective inclusive practices, knowledge about the predictors of this support is limited. Additionally, we know relatively little about how support for inclusion varies depending on the type of disadvantage. In this study, we examine the role of different empathy-related processes (perspective taking, empathic concern, personal distress) in public support for the inclusion of six different groups involving pupils disadvantaged by their social background, physical disabilities, and intellectual disabilities. Using data from a Czech nationally representative survey (2022), and multilevel ordinal logistic models, we found differences in the effects of empathy on the support for inclusion depending on the type of pupils’ disadvantage. While perspective taking is not associated with support for any group, and personal distress lowers the support for inclusion, individuals with higher levels of empathic concern are more supportive of inclusion regardless of the type of disadvantage. Furthermore, we found that extended contact with a disadvantaged child increases support for inclusion.