Knowledge and Attitude of Primary School Teachers in Tehran/Iran towards ADHD and SLD

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of primary school teachers in Tehran (Iran) towards attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and specific learning disability (SLD). This study was conducted on 205 primary school teachers in Tehran. Using multi-stage sampling, 25 schools were selected randomly. The selected teachers completed a self-report questionnaire on knowledge and attitude towards ADHD and SLD. They were found to have average knowledge of as well as mostly neutral attitudes towards SLD and ADHD. There was a positive significant relationship between knowledge and attitude scores of the participants on the two disorders. Regarding students with ADHD or SLD, instead of referring to specialists, most teachers chose to inform the parents. Our findings mainly indicate average knowledge and attitude scores for both ADHD and SLD-compared to lower findings in previous studies. Those responsible for organizing and holding in-service training workshops on these issues need to have complete mastery and up-to-date information. It is necessary that the results of such studies be used in educational planning and policy making in the Ministry of Education.

Educational Intervention for Increasing Teachers’ ADHD Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior

“…The results also determined that two mounts after the intervention, compared with the control group, intervention group teachers demonstrated a statistically signi cant increase in their attitude towards children with ADHD. Consist of our nding, desirable changes in teachers' attitude toward students with ADHD were reported after teacher training in previous studies (14,15,23). Also contrary to the present study, there was no signi cant difference between pre/post assessments of teachers' attitudes in a similar study in Saudi Arabia (13).…”

“…Developing by researchers, a self-reported questionnaire was used to data collection. This questionnaire was developed based on a review of the literature to assess teachers' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors to support children with ADHD (8,12,14,15,18,19). An expert's panel who were selected based on their quali cations and experience in health education, psychology, and ADHD determined the face validity and content validity of the questionnaires.…”

“…The elementary school teacher is most often the rst one who notice the hyperactivity or inattentive behaviors in the classroom and should be able to manage them and to do a right action, for example, make a referral for accurate assessment for ADHD (15). Elementary school teachers play an important role in the assessment of children's behavioral and academic problems due to their extensive interaction with children in a variety of unstructured and structured settings (16).…”

Knowledge and Awareness of Guidance Counselors About Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder and Specific Learning Disability

“…Khademi ve ark. 22 İran'da öğretmenlerin orta düzeyde bilgiye sahip olduklarını tespit etmişlerdir. Brook ve ark.…”

“…DEHB ve ÖÖG çocukluk çağında yaygın olarak görülmesine rağmen yurtdışındaki literatüre bakıldığında, rehberlik öğretmenlerinin bu iki tanı hakkında bilgi ve farkındalık düzeylerini ölçmeye yönelik belirgin bir eksiklik olduğu ve bu alanda yapılan araştırmaların daha çok sınıf öğretmenleri [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] , ebeveynler 30,31…”