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J. Indian Assoc. Child Adolesc. Ment. Health 2016; 12(4):323-335

Original Article

Attitude of Primary School Teachers towards Children with Learning Disabilities

Moothedath Shari , Mysore Narasimha Vranda

Address for correspondence: Dr. Vranda M N, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatric

Social Work, Dr. M V Govindaswami Centre, NIMHANS, Bengaluru 560029, India. Email:

vrindamn@gmail.com

Abstract

Background: When the special needs of children with learning disabilities are not met, it can

lead to scholastic backwardness and related psycho-socio problems. Hence, early

identification by teachers is crucial. It would, therefore, be important to assess the attitudes

of teachers toward children with learning disabilities. Method: The current study aimed at

assessing the attitude of primary school teachers towards children with learning disabilities

using Teachers’ Attitude about Learning Disabilities (PSTALD) scale. The sample for the

study consisted of 200 primary school teachers in Bangalore South from 16 schools. Result:

The teachers had less favorable attitude towards inclusion of children with learning

disabilities in regular schools. Female teachers had favorable attitude towards helping

children with learning disabilities on overall scores of PSTALD scale compared to male

counterparts. Apart from this, unaided school teachers and teachers with higher education had

statistically significant positive (p < 0.05) attitude on all the domains of PSTALD scale

compared to other categories. Conclusion: The findings of the research highlight the need for

bringing awareness to change the attitude towards inclusion and bringing children with

learning disabilities into the educational mainstream.

Key words: Attitude, primary school teachers, children, learning disabilities

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INTRODUCTION

Learning disabilities are one of the important issues in primary care in India. India is thought

to have approximately ninety million people with varying degrees of learning disabilities and

an average class in schools has about five students with learning disabilities out of 55

children in the class [1]. Learning disability refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders

manifested by specific and persistent difficulties in the acquisition and use of efficient

reading, writing or mathematical abilities despite conventional instructions, intact senses,

normal intelligence, and proper motivation and adequate socio-cultural opportunities [2].

Learning Disabilities are diagnosed when the individual's achievement on individually

administered, standardized tests in reading, mathematics, or written expression is

substantially below that expected for age, schooling, and level of intelligence (DSM-IV). In

India, prevalence of learning disabilities of various types was reported to be 3-10 per cent

among the student population [3]. In our country, many classroom teachers in regular

mainstream schools have limited knowledge of Specific Learning Disability [4]. Since

teachers have the task of identifying students’ difficulties, their knowledge of learning

disabilities and understanding of their students influence the provision of support. In one

report, administrators from at least five cities stated that education and professional

development for teachers was necessary because many teachers were unsure if their students

had learning disabilities [5]. Teachers’ attitudes towards students with disabilities have a

significant impact on their educational experiences and even in identification of such

disabilities [6].

Eagly and Chaike [7] defined attitude as "a psychological tendency that is expressed by

evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor. It involves three

components: emotional component (how the object, person, issue or event makes you feel),

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cognitive component (your thoughts and beliefs about the subject) and behavioral component

(how the attitude influences your behavior)”. Teachers’ attitude has implications on student’s

own attitude and their learning outcomes. A teacher’s attitude has the power to enhance or

seriously harm the quality of life of students with disabilities. The integration of students with

learning disabilities within the mainstream classroom depends on the teachers as they are

considered as mediators in the inclusive education process [8, 9].

Recent moves towards the inclusion of students with special educational needs in inclusive

classrooms have focused attention on how teachers perceive these students, what constitutes

educational success for children with special educational needs in inclusive classrooms, and

the perceived ability of teachers to provide effective instruction for them. Limitations in

funding and appropriate material resources and support add to the difficulties faced by

teachers [10].

General Attitude about Learning Disabilities

Adebowale & Moye [11] studied Teachers’ Knowledge of, and Attitude towards Learning

Disabilities in Osun state, Nigeria. Most of the teachers who had a basic degree in National

Certificate in Education (51.1%) were indifferent in their attitude to learning difficulties in

their classrooms, although, a considerable percentage (44.7%) had positive attitude towards it

and were ready to assist learners undergoing such difficulties. However, some of them (4.3%)

still had negative attitude towards inclusion of children with learning difficulties in

classroom. In a study on trainee teachers’ attitudes towards students with specific learning

disabilities in Australia, Woodcock and Vialle [12] showed that primary school teachers had

a favorable positive attitude towards students with specific learning disability (SLD) than

their secondary counterparts. There were no significant differences between male and female

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trainee teachers’ attitudes towards students with SLD and attitudes towards curriculum

differentiation. There were no significant differences between trainee teachers’ attitudes and

experience or exposure to students with specific learning disabilities. Trainee teachers who

had experience and exposure to students with SLD did not significantly differ in their

attitudes towards students with SLD or differentiating the curriculum compared to those

without any experience or exposure.

Attitude in Helping Children with Learning Disability

Woolfson, Grant & Campbell [13] claimed that the connection between teachers’ beliefs and

their behaviours in the classroom are linked to personal beliefs, values and principles.

Research demonstrates that increased experience and contact with students with special

educational needs in conjunction with knowledge and training, results in more positive

attitudes [14]. Research has also shown negative correlations between negative attitudes and

poor or ineffective instructional strategies [15]. Das et al [16] conducted a study on

‘Inclusive education in India on teachers’ preparedness revealed that primary and secondary

school teachers rated themselves as having limited or low competence for working with

students with disabilities and there was no statistically significant difference between their

perceived skill levels. The current study focuses on analyzing primary school teachers’

attitude towards children with learning disabilities through specifically assessing General

Attitude about Learning Disabilities, Attitude in Helping Children with Learning Disability

and Attitude towards Inclusion of Children with Learning Disabilities.

METHODS

The sample for the study consisted of 200 primary school teachers in Bangalore South from

16 schools. The selection criteria included the teachers who were teaching primary school

children, who were willing to give consent and who speak English / Kannada. A pilot study

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was also conducted among 50 primary school teachers to examine the feasibility of the

Primary School Teachers’ Attitude about Learning Disabilities (PSTALD) by Shari and

Vranda ( 2015) [17]. The scale has 40 items. Higher mean scores indicate positive attitude

towards children with learning disabilities and lower mean scores indicate negative attitude

towards learning disabilities. The scale has three domains namely ‘General Attitude about

Learning Disabilities’, ‘Attitude in Helping Children with Learning Disabilities’ and

‘Attitude about Inclusion of Children with Learning Disabilities’. The first domain covers

expressed feelings, beliefs and interest about learning disabilities in general. The second

domain focuses on teacher’s attitude component in helping such children. The third one is

about teacher’s attitude in including children with learning disability in general classroom.

Each item was measured on a 5 point scale where 1 is ‘strongly agree’ and 5 is ‘strongly

disagree’ for positive items. The scale has face validity and content validity by experts. The

scale has highly reliability coefficients with internal consistency Cronbach's Alpha of 0.93

and Guttman Split-Half Reliability of 0.90.

RESULTS

The age of majority the primary school teachers was between 20 and 35 years (46.5%). 81%

of them were married. Majority (50.5%) of them belonged to the Hindu religion. Majority

(47.5%) of the teachers had a diploma or certificate in teaching and 70.5% of them were

teaching in unaided school. 62.5% were teaching upper primary teachers, 63.5% of them

were working in schools with no counselors to deal with difficulties in children [Table-1]

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Table – 2 shows the mean scores and standard deviations in each domains of PSTALD scale.

Among the domains, teachers scored less favorable attitude on the domain of inclusion of

children with learning disabilities in regular schooling.

Table-3 shows relationship between Primary School Teachers’ Attitude about Learning

Disabilities (PSTALD) and Background Variable. The results showed that females had

statistically significant (p < 0.05) favorable attitude on domain 3 and overall attitude

compared to male counterparts. With regard to nature of schools, teachers of unaided schools

had statistically significant (p < 0.05) favorable attitude on all the domains of attitude

compared to other categories. Teachers with higher education had statistically significant (p <

0.05) positive attitude towards children with learning disabilities on all the domains

compared to other categories of education.

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Discussion and Conclusion:

The current study was aimed at exploring the attitude of primary school teachers towards

children with learning disability. Majority of the teachers had highly favourable attitude

towards children with specific learning disabilities. However, when it comes to inclusion of

children with learning disabilities to regular teaching classroom and bringing them into the

mainstream, majority of the teachers had poor knowledge and attitude about the same. The

finding clearly highlights the need for bringing awareness to change the attitude towards

inclusion and bringing children with learning disability into the mainstream with typical

children. Teachers are perceived to be integral to the implementation of inclusive education

[18] as they are viewed as important members in the process of including students with

disabilities into regular classes [19]. Teachers’ attitudes are important for successful

inclusive practices [20]. The success of an inclusionary program may be at risk if regular

classroom teachers hold negative attitudes toward the inclusion of students with disabilities

[21]. While some study point out that teachers' attitudes to inclusive education are typically

positive [22].

It is critical to help children in meeting their special needs. Since teachers are the first point

of contact for students with learning disabilities their attitude matters significantly in

providing support and needed intervention. In addition, including children with special needs

is gaining popularity and hence, descriptive and experimental studies on inclusive education

with special focus on learning disabilities will widen the scope of effective classrooms.

Moreover, study on psychosocial wellbeing of children with learning disabilities is another

important area which needs to be explored and intervened.

Like all studies, the current research has limitations. Due to time constraints, convenient

sampling was adopted for data collection. Additional research is needed with regard to other

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childhood disorders in order to explore and intervene in areas like awareness and attitude of

school teachers which has a direct impact on child mental health. The challenge of achieving

full educational and social integration of children with learning disabilities within the society

can be easily achieved if the teachers possess better knowledge, attitude and competencies to

handle children with learning disabilities. Such knowledge and understanding will enable

them to develop positive attitude towards children with learning disabilities which in turn

leads to acquiring or developing better competencies to handle the children. Teachers needs

to be trained to identify students who need intervention, to handle problems in the classroom,

to locate sources to help students, take part in the collaborative process and to view

themselves as part of a team effort to address the academic, social and healthy development

of students. There is also need to incorporate common childhood disorders in the

professional curriculum of teachers’ education. More advocacy need to be done for

protecting the rights of children with learning disabilities as the study reflected that most of

the school authorities were not facilitating the accommodation for such children.

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Mr. Moothedath Shari, M Phil Scholar, Dr. Mysore Narasimha Vranda, Associate

Professor, Department of Psychiatric Social Work, NIMHANS, Bengaluru, India.