Impact of pre-service education on the effectiveness of in-service training for inclusive preschool teachers in China: a potential profile analysis

The inclusive education competence of educators is crucial for the high-quality development of preschool inclusive education. Currently, the unsatisfactory effectiveness of in-service training for preschool inclusive educators has become one of the obstacles to improving the quality of preschool inclusive education. Through an exploratory latent profile analysis of the effectiveness of in-service training, this study aims to investigate the impact of pre-service education on different categories of in-service training effectiveness in inclusive education. The present study investigated an examination of 404 preschool educators in China who underwent comprehensive training encompassing both pre-service and in-service inclusive education components. The latent profile analysis approach was employed to identify potential latent categories of in-service training effectiveness among them. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the impact of pre-service education on the categories of training effectiveness for educators. The findings elucidate the existence of three distinct potential categories, denoted as “low-efficiency” (LE, 10.6%), “medium-efficiency” (ME, 41.1%), and “high-efficiency” (HE, 48.3%). A more detailed exploration further exposes the factors within pre-service education that contribute significantly to educators falling within the ME or HE categories during their subsequent in-service training. These factors encompass the opening courses “Educational Diagnosis and Evaluation for Children with Special Needs” and “The Formulation and Implementation of Individualized Education Program”, professional competence of teacher trainers, practical experience gained in inclusive education kindergartens and special education institutions, as well as the availability of teaching resources within university settings. These elements can ensure that preschool educators achieve better training effectiveness in the in-service training. The implications of these findings extend to the realm of preschool inclusive education, offering an evidence-based foundation and practical insights for the effective integration of pre-service education and in-service training programs.