Pre-service Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Students With Behavioral Difficulties: Associations With Individual and Education Program Characteristics

Abstract

Teachers’ belief toward students with special educational needs (SEN) in the regular classroom is a condition that may influence the implementation of inclusive education. Nevertheless, some studies suggest that teachers’ attitudes or self-efficacy beliefs toward students with behavioral difficulties (BD) are quite negative, but much less emphasis has been placed on the factors and mechanisms contributing to these attitudes. This study investigates associations between pre-service teachers’ (PT) attitudes toward students with BD, PT’s individual characteristics including self-efficacy beliefs, and PT’s education program characteristics. Participants surveyed were 1,499 PT enrolled in a 4-year teacher education program (bachelor’s degree) in Quebec Province, Canada. Descriptive analysis showed that PT’s report generally positive attitudes toward students with BD on the three components of attitudes, while behavioral components were significantly more positive than the affective and cognitive components. Among the individual characteristics of PTs, the more advanced their academic level, the more negative their attitudes were on all three components. The characteristics related to the teacher education program (general vs. special) and the number of hours of courses on the BD revealed significant differences only on the cognitive component. Results of the mediation analysis further revealed that the association between the PT’s characteristics and the three components of attitudes was mediated by PT’s self-efficacy beliefs. Results are discussed considering their implications for the field of teacher education.

Pre‐service teachers' attitudes and the factors influencing their formation regarding inclusive education in Kosovo

“…Our research findings showed relatively positive attitudes among pre‐service teachers. This result echoes those of Massé et al (2022), who asserted that attitudes among pre‐service teachers were ‘globally somewhat positive’.…”

“…It may be the case that the more knowledge pre-service teachers have, the more insecure and the less confident they feel in their abilities to work with and manage students with special needs (Ohan et al, 2008). This result is concerning (Massé et al, 2022), especially since the results of the current research showed that attitudes can be predicted by the course on inclusive education. Therefore, course curricula need to be more specific, not only in theoretical terms but also practically, so that preservice teachers possess the basic competencies needed to be inclusive teachers.…”

Teachers’ perceptions on their competence and the benefits of inclusive education

“…Evidence shows that to be effective, teachers should have sufficient knowledge about the best practices in teaching and of adapted instruction for LSENs, wherein positive attitude is most significant in creating an effective inclusive classroom. Additionally, in inclusive education, there are three groups of teachers, such as the keen, but anxious, beginners who are identified mostly as pre-service teachers with positive attitudes but are worried about their efficacy in inclusion; positive doers who are identified mostly as experienced teachers who struggle with the challenges met in inclusion; however, they maintain their positive attitudes; and resisters who are identified as the experienced teachers are resistant to inclusion (Massé et al, 2022).…”

Perceptions of Pre-Service Technical Teachers on the Teaching and Learning Activities in Teacher Instructor Colleges of Uganda

“…Recently, more researchers have focused on exploring pre-service teachers' attitudes and beliefs before and after training programs, for the purpose of determining how to improve the programs and courses that prepare pre-service teachers (Li, 2016). For instance, teachers' attitudes and self-efficacy play a significant role in their pedagogical choices on whether and exactly how to incorporate information and communication technologies in their training (Pozas et al, 2022); on how to deal with students with behavioural difficulties (Massé et al, 2022).…”