ATTITUDE OF TEACHERS TOWARDS PUPILS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS (ASD) IN SELECTED PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Wazor Victoria Ekom-Idorenyin

Abstract


This study investigated the attitude of teachers towards pupils with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in selected primary schools in Rivers State, Nigeria. The relationship between teacher’s attitude and their gender and age were also investigated. The study employed descriptive survey research design and was guided by three research questions and two hypotheses. The population consisted of all the teachers in seven mainstream schools for pupils with ASD and two special education schools for children disabilities including ASD in Rivers State. Using block sampling technique, the total population was one hundred and twenty-one teachers. Instrument for data collection was a questionnaire titled Teachers Attitude Scale (TAS). Data obtained from these questionnaires were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions while chi-square statistic, analyzed at 0.05 level of significance, was used for testing the hypotheses. Cramer’s V test was used as a post-test to determine the strength of the associations found using chi-square. Results of findings showed that the attitude of teachers towards pupils in these schools were positive, with female teachers showing more propensity to exhibiting positive attitudes than male teachers. Teacher’s gender had significant influence on teacher’s attitude towards these children but teacher’s age did not have significant influence on teacher’s attitude towards pupils with ASD.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter

DOI

Keywords


teacher, attitude, autism spectrum disorders, gender

Full Text:

PDF

References


Adeyemi, T. O. (2007). Teacher related factors as correlates of pupils achievement in social studies in south west Nigeria. American-Eurasian Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 6(2). 62 – 68.

Agomoh, O. E. & Kanu, S. A. (2015). Introduction to psychology of special needs children: Understanding special needs education. Kanissi Books: Port Harcourt.

Akiri, A. A & Ugborugbo, N. M. (2008). An examination of genders influence on teachers in secondary schools in Nyamira Division, Kenya. Asian Social Science. 7(20). 107-112.

Alufohai, P. J. & Ibhafido, H. E. (2015). Influence of teacher’s age, qualification, marital status and gender on students’ academic achievements. Journal of Educational Research. 3(4). 50-68.

American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV-TR (4th Ed., Text revision). Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association.

Brehm, J. W. (2001). Exploration of cognitive dissonance. New York: Wiley.

Brock, E. E., Huber, H. B., Carter, E. W., Juarez, A. P., & Waren, Z. E., (2014). Statewide assessment of professional development needs related to educating students with autism spectrum disorders. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. 29(2), 67-79.

Dehanty, W. (2000). The old teacher phenomenon. Florida: Westview Press.

Eiser, J. R. (2008). Expectancy confirmation in attitude learning: A connectionist account. European Journal of Social Psychology. 20(1), 98-102.

Garcia, C. (2003). Impact of teachers’ attitude on the use of inquiry method of teaching in the elementary classroom. Journal of Education. 14(3). 28-31.

Gibbons, M. M., Cihak, D. F., Mynatt, B. & Wilhoit, B. E. (2016). Faculty and student attitudes towards postsecondary education for students with intellectual disabilities and autism. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability. 28(2). 149-162.

Gunbayi, S. (2007). Teacher efficacy, self-concept, and attitudes towards the implementation of instructional innovation. Teaching and Teacher Education. 4(1). 63-69.

Gurney P. (2007). Five factors for effective teaching. New Zealand Journal of Teachers, 4(2) 11-15.

Harmon-Jones, E. & Harmon-Jones, C. (2007). Cognitive dissonance theory after 50 years of development. Journal of Social Psychology. 38(1) 7-16.

Hobbs, U. & Westling, P. (1998). Promoting successful inclusion through collaborative problem-solving. [Online] Available at: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.117 Accessed on: 6th June, 2018.

Kong, Y. (2008). A study of the relationship between job engagement of middle school teachers and its relative variables. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 29(4): 215-221.

Ladi, K. (2008). A correlation of factors that influence teachers’ performance in primary schools. Journal of Educational Research. 18(2). 65-71.

Martin, N. K., Yin, Z., & Mayall, H. (2006). Classroom management training, teaching experience and gender: Do these variables impact teachers’ attitudes and beliefs towards classroom management style? Journal of Education. 24(2). 61-67.

Martin, K. J. & Smith, L. R. (2001). Effect of teacher’s age, teaching experience, qualification and gender on students’ perception. Educational Research. ERIC. 12 (3). 31-37.

Marzano, R. J., (2012). Different kind of classroom: Teaching with dimensions of learning. New York: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

National Autism Association (2018). Autism fact sheet. National Autism Association. [Online] Available at: http://nationalautismassociation.org/resources/autism-fact-sheet/ Accessed on: 6th June, 2018.

Okoroikpa, N. I. & Oluka, B. N (2017). Introduction to learners with special needs. Abuja: Rabboni Nigeria Limited.

Richardson, V., (2008). The role of attitudes and beliefs in learning to teach. New York: Macmillian.

Salthouse, M. (2000). The relationship between teaching qualifications and students’ learning in Central America. International Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies. 23(1). 32-41.

Shatri, S. (2017). The impact of training and experience on teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusion of children with special educational needs in the ordinary and comprehensive schools. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. 6(3). 18-25

Sloane, F. C. & Kelly, A. K. (2003). Issues in high states testing programme. Theory in Practice. 41(1). 12-17.

Sugita, T. (2016). Current trends in psychological and educational approaches for training and teaching students with autism in California. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education. 9(2), 307-3016.

UNESCO (2008). The contribution of early childhood education to a sustainable society. Paris: DHEW.

WHO (2018). Autism Spectrum Disorders. [Online] Available at: http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/details/autism-spectrum-disorders Accessed on: 6th June, 2018.

Zuzovsky, R. (2003). Teachers’ qualifications and their impact on students’ achievement. IERI Monograph. Vol. 02.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v0i0.2837

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2020 Wazor Victoria Ekom-Idorenyin

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2015-2023. European Journal of Education Studies (ISSN 2501 - 1111) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All authors who send their manuscripts to this journal and whose articles are published on this journal retain full copyright of their articles. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).