All ready for action in inclusive classrooms? Conceptions of the tiered support framework, professional roles, and collaboration among Finnish pre-service teachers

The idea of inclusive education became prevalent around the world. To implement inclusive education, some countries adopt a multi-tiered support framework to support children with special educational needs. Although Finland introduced this framework already in 2010, few studies have investigated how pre-service teachers understand its implementation and multi-professional collaboration. This study examined pre-service teachers’ conceptions of the multi-tiered support framework, professional roles, and collaboration in Finland. Data were collected from 139 pre-service teachers using questionnaires. Cluster analysis identified four pre-service teacher profiles: ‘Support knowing-doing gap’, ‘Support positive’, ‘Support negative’, and ‘Three-tiered support negative’, revealing a knowing-doing gap in the implementation of the support framework. Furthermore, the result indicates that some pre-service teachers were more critical of the multi-tiered support framework than of multi-professional collaboration, possibly due to the framework’s relative novelty. This study provides useful insights for developing pre – and in-service teacher education regarding inclusive education.