Abstract
This study examined whether participation in an eight-week, theory-informed professional development programme was associated with changes in teachers’ and career counsellors’ self-efficacy for inclusive education in Greek secondary schools. Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory and transformative learning, the programme combined structured sessions, practice-based activities and guided reflection. A mixed-methods quasi-experimental design was used with 122 participants allocated at the school level to intervention (n = 63) and comparison (n = 59) groups. Quantitative data were collected at pre- and post-test using the TSES-T, CCSES, SACIE-R and an ASD Knowledge Questionnaire, while qualitative data were gathered through interviews and focus groups with intervention participants. The intervention group showed significant improvements across teacher self-efficacy, career counsellor self-efficacy, attitudes towards inclusion and autism-related knowledge. Qualitative findings added interpretive depth by suggesting that participants experienced the programme as professionally meaningful through guided practice, collaborative learning and critical reflection. Taken together, the findings suggest that participation in the programme was associated with improved preparedness for inclusive practice among teachers and career counsellors in Greek secondary education. However, the findings should be interpreted cautiously given the quasi-experimental, school-level design and the possibility that contextual factors may also have influenced the observed outcomes.