1 / 18

By: Luz M. Torres, Ed. D. University of Puerto Rico Faculty of Education

The Effects of a Sensibility Training Approach on the Attitudes of General Education Teachers Towards the Inclusion of Students with Special Needs. By: Luz M. Torres, Ed. D. University of Puerto Rico Faculty of Education. Difficulties of Students with Special Needs (Vaughn, 1994).

margie
Download Presentation

By: Luz M. Torres, Ed. D. University of Puerto Rico Faculty of Education

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Effects of a SensibilityTraining Approach on theAttitudes of General EducationTeachers Towards the Inclusion of Students with Special Needs By: Luz M. Torres, Ed. D. University of Puerto Rico Faculty of Education

  2. Difficulties of Students with Special Needs (Vaughn, 1994) • Frustration • Lack of problem solving skills • Feeling of unacceptance from the school community • Low self concept • Little motivation

  3. Purpose of the Study • Determine the effect of a sensibility training approach on the attitudes of general education teachers towards the inclusion of students with low vision and other special needs

  4. Procedures • Pilot study to test the training approach • Construction and validation of the instrument (Fishbein’s Reasoned Action Theory) • Study

  5. Fishbein’s Theory of Reasoned Action (1980) • Semantical differential scale • Determinants of human behavior • Assumption: -Different beliefs determine behavior decisions in the people as much as the beliefs of the peer group. • Factors: -Personal nature (affective feeling) -Social influence (subjective norm)

  6. Content Validation (Lynn, 1996) • Internal validity - .96(alpha coefficient of item analysis) • Random sample of high school teachers from the San Juan Educational Region • Randomly assigned to two groups -Experimental group = 24 -Control group = 25

  7. The Study: • Two Consecutive days for six hour sessions each day -Correct limitations of traditional approaches -Based on the principle that every learning experience must be oriented to the domain of skill development in order to motivate action -New approaches - active research instead ofpassive listening to conferences

  8. Sensitivity Training • Personal Development • Professional Development • Technical Development

  9. Statistical Analysis • MONOVA Test (SPPS-x) -Established differences between the two groups in three variables measured simultaneously for the four inclusion behaviors studied • Attitude and subjective norm was positive as predicted in Fishbein’s theory

  10. The Longitudinal Study • The attitude questionnaire was administered on a second occasion to the experimental group one year after the initial treatment -19 out of 24 individuals from the initial group participated (79%) -Open questions were added -Test of dependent samples Intention to act and attitude increased positively Subjective norm was not statistically different

  11. Important Findings • Most important findings: -Answers to open questions support statistical results -Answers to open questions help clarify the respondents feelings related to inclusion of students with low vision and other special needs

  12. Remarks • “I feel happy because I had support” • “I’m more confident and sensible now” • “Some teachers feel it is too much work but these students need help and an opportunity” • “I’m here to help them” • “The opinion of others does not affect me because I feel prepared to help if needed” • “I’m more patient now”

  13. Activities developed to satisfy student needs • Individualized help • Adapted materials • Reorganization of the working areas • Special assignments • Reinforcement of special abilities • Participation in community activities • Peer tutoring • Cooperative work • Others

  14. Activities to provide appropriate social environment • Group therapy to improve social relations • Group dynamics • Group discussions • Talent shows • Continuous reinforcement and motivation • Parent interviews • Others

  15. Help and resources used • Special education teacher • General program students • Social worker • Counselor • Visual aids • Teacher aid

  16. Subjects evaluation of the experience • “Beautiful” • “Empowering” • “A learning experience” • “Very reinforcing” • “A challenge” • “Stimulating to become a better teacher” • “Reinforcing but sometimes tiring” • “Effective in sensibilization of students and teachers”

  17. Recommendations • Promote practical experiences as a training strategy • Promote team work • Enhance instruction through demonstrations and field work • Increase sensibility to student needs • Promote student participation in planning their own learning experiences • Provide for socialization activities

  18. Recommendations • Plan for dynamic and enthusiastic instruction • Use theory to explain experience and practice • Use introspection for self analysis and evaluation

More Related