Attitudes and Behaviour of Children Toward Peers with Disabilities

The theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1988) was used to examine the relationship between the attitudes and behaviour of primary school children towards peers with physical disabilities included in regular education. The participants were 188 primary school children aged 8 to 12 years. Children's attitudes toward peers with disabilities, their behavioural intentions to interact with and befriend such peers, and the amount of control they perceived having over interactional behaviour, were assessed using self-report measures. These variables were used to predict the amount of time children reported spending with their classmates with physical disabilities in the classroom and playground. The results supported the theory of planned behaviour. Children's attitudes and perceived behavioural control were significant predictors of their intentions to interact with a child with physical disabilities. Intentions predicted actual behaviour to a modest extent, while perceived behavioural control was not directly associated with actual behaviour. The implications of these findings for interventions to change the attitudes and behaviours of students toward classmates with disabilities are discussed.     

A Meta-Analysis of School-Age Children's Attitudes Towards Persons with Physical or Intellectual Disabilities

Factors associated with children's attitudes towards persons with physical and intellectual disabilities were examined in a meta-analysis spanning the years 1990 to 2000. A total of 20 studies met the inclusion criteria allowing for 65 comparisons across 2,240 participants. Factors of interest were attitudinal components, type of disability, age and gender of respondents, and role of inclusion. The majority of research findings revealed that children preferred target children without disabilities compared to targets with physical or intellectual disabilities. Three methods for calculating average effect sizes were used: (a) unweighted means, (b) weighted means, and (c) vote counting. It was concluded that biases in attitudes do exist but that summary results need to be interpreted with regard to individual study differences and the methods used to calculate mean effect sizes.     

Teacher Empathy and Attitudes Towards Individuals with Disabilities

The article presents research results of a study aimed at determining the correlation between empathy understood as a personality disposition and general attitudes towards individuals with disability. The sample consisted of 300 special education teachers working with persons with intellectual disabilities in primary and secondary schools and institutions of rehabilitation, and 280 general education teachers working with able-bodied students in primary and secondary schools. Two instruments were used: Empathic Understanding of Other People Questionnaire, and the Scale of Attitudes towards Individuals with Disability. In the group of special education teachers, only Syndrome 2 of empathy was statistically significant for shaping the attitudes, whereas among teachers, Syndromes 1, 3 and 4 were significant. In Syndromes 1, 2 and 4, including the highest level of emotional, cognitive, motivational and communication aspects of empathy, the correlations were positive as expected. In the case of Syndrome 3, including the considerable level of cognitive empathy, the correlation was negative.     

大学生对残疾人的内隐与外显态度

为开发和验证残疾人态度内隐联想测验方法的有效性,了解大学生对残疾人的态度现状,使用外显(SADP修订版)和内隐联合测验(IAT),测量99名中国大学生对残疾人态度。结果表明,大学生对残疾人的内隐态度是消极的,强度中等偏低;外显态度比较积极的;内隐态度和外显态度之间存在低相关;性别、专业、接触等因素对残疾人的内隐和外显态度影响作用均不显著。以上结果表明,中文版的IAT可以有效地测量对残疾人的内隐态度,大学生对残疾存在负面刻板印象。     

Parents' Attitudes Towards Science and their Children's Science Achievement

Although countries worldwide are emphasizing the importance of science education for technological development and global economic competition, comparative findings from standardized international student assessments reveal a huge gap in science scores between developed and developing countries. Certain developed economies too have made little progress in raising science achievement over the past decade. Despite school improvement being placed high on the policy agenda, the results of such actions have been poor. Therefore, there is a need to explore additional ways in which science achievement can be enhanced. This study focuses on the family and examines whether parents' attitudes towards science (how much they value science and the importance they place on it) can influence their children's science achievement. Individual- and school-level data are obtained from the Program for International Student Assessment 2006 survey for 15 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and non-OECD countries. Hierarchical linear modelling is employed to estimate the equations. The findings indicate that parents' attitudes towards science have a positive and statistically significant effect on science achievement, after controlling for other important student- and school-level variables. Moreover, students from poor backgrounds appear to benefit from more positive parental science attitudes as much as students from high socioeconomic status, such that equality of student achievement is not affected. This study recommends that schools and teachers encourage parents to play a more pro-active role in their children's science education, as well as educate parents about the importance of science and strategies that can be adopted to support their children's science learning.     

Attitudes of Secular and Religious Israeli Adolescents Towards Persons with Disabilities: a multidimensional analysis

Differences between religious and secular people in their attitudes towards persons with disabilities may originate in social-cultural factors, such as values and norms, as well as in personality factors like dogmatism. Since religious and secular people differ in these characteristics, it was expected that they would differ in their attitudes as well. Attitudes towards persons with disabilities reflect complex interpersonal and intrapersonal processes and therefore should be assessed with multidimensional measures. In the present study the attitudes of 83 religious and 51 secular Israeli adolescents were measured with Siller's Disability Factor Scale–General (DFS-G). The questionnaire included seven factors that reflect psychodynamic processes operating to protect the individual against the threat and anxiety associated with the presence of a person with a disability or even by the mere consideration of his/her condition. Level of dogmatism was measured as well. No differences in dogmatism were found between the two groups. Secular participants expressed more positive attitudes than religious participants on two attitude scales—Generalized Rejection and Authoritarian Virtuousness. These two scales express special, segregative, and unequal attitudes. The findings give some support to the claim that religious affiliation, even if it encourages care for persons with disabilities, is associated with segregation and attribution of unequal social status to these people.     

Attitudes of School Psychologists Towards the Integration (Mainstreaming) of Children with Disabilities

SCHOOL psychologists serving primary and secondary schools in New South Wales were surveyed to ascertain their attitudes towards the main‐streaming of children with a wide range of disabilities. They were also asked to identify the resources required to meet the needs of these children in regular classrooms and to indicate their perceived role in the process of mainstreaming. Results indicated that school psychologists appeared to have a fairly optimistic perspective with regard to mainstreaming when compared with teachers. Comparisons of factor analyses of attitudes also suggested that school psychologists tended to group disability characteristics more in terms of traditional handicapping categories than with regard to the educational demands made upon teachers. While children with learning and behavioural difficulties represented psychologists’ largest case load, they did not always feel they had the skills to assist this group and were even less confident about other categories of disability. School psychologists also saw their roles with regard to mainstreaming as consultative rather than interventionist and attached little importance to knowledge of classroom techniques to facilitate the mainstreaming of children with disabilities. Implications of these data for the training and practice of school psychology were subsequently discussed.     

Zimbabwean Teachers’ Attitudes Towards the Integration of Pupils with Disabilities into Regular Classrooms

Integration of pupils with disabilities whenever possible is official educational policy in Zimbabwe. This paper reports results of surveys administered in 1989 and 1990 to 197 Zimbabwean teachers attending the University of Zimbabwe for advanced training. The results showed that levels of acceptance of the idea of integration are low and that attitudes are not unitary but rather depend upon what is being queried. Specifically, they show a clear preference ranking by type of impairment, and they differ depending upon whether their own classroom or classrooms in general are being asked about. Open‐ended questions provided more detail, supported the hierarchy of acceptance found in the closed‐ended questions and indicated that some teachers’ responses were extremely inappropriate.     

High School‐Aged Youths' Attitudes Toward their Peers with Disabilities: the role of school and student interpersonal Factors

Negative peer attitudes are generally recognised as being a major barrier to full social inclusion at school for children and youth with disabilities. The present study examined the attitudes of 1,872 grade nine high school students in Ontario, Canada toward their peers with disabilities. A bioecological perspective and a structural equation modeling approach were adopted to investigate how various aspects of school culture and student interpersonal factors influenced attitudes. The majority of students (61%) held attitudes toward peers with disabilities that ranged from slightly above neutral to very positive. However, a substantial number (21%) held slightly below neutral to very negative attitudes. Positive student relationships at the school level and a school goal task structure that promoted learning and understanding for all students, rather than social comparison and competition among students, were two aspects of school culture that had both direct associations with positive attitudes and indirect associations through student interpersonal factors. Teacher and student relationships at the school level was an aspect of school culture that had an indirect association with positive attitudes via interpersonal support from teachers. Results support the development of ecologically based programs aimed at promoting aspects of school culture that contribute to positive attitudes of students toward their peers with disabilities.     

Teacher Sensitivity, Children's Attachment and Play with Peers

Three different explanatory models for the development of complex play with peers were examined in a sample of 107 children enrolled in child care. Children's attachment security, caregiver sensitivity, and complex peer play were observed on two different occasions separated by at least six months. With more time in child care, children's play with peers became more complex. Path analysis suggested that adult caregiving behaviors indirectly influence the complexity of peer play and directly influence children's attachment security. Children's attachment security directly influenced the complexity of peer play.     

Teachers' Attitudes Towards Children's Behaviour Problems in Nursery Classes in Greece

The study was undertaken in Greece to investigate teachers' perceptions of children's behaviour problems in nursery classes in Greece. A questionnaire developed in an earlier study was applied to a female teacher sample of 154, selected from nursery schools in cities, small towns and rural areas in three distinct geographic locations in Greece. The total sample of pupils in the study was.3.091 (boys N:1.568, girls N:1.523)

The overall prevalence rate identified by teachers for all behaviour problems was 14.3 percent, with 2.1 percent perceived as ‘very serious’ and 5.8 percent ‘serious’ and ‘very serious’. More boys than girls were perceived to have behaviour problems in general (ratio 2:1) and conduct problems in particular. However, almost equal percentage of boys and girls were perceived as showing serious emotional problems. Gender, age, children's academic achievement teachers' teaching experience were found to be significant factors, but the socio‐economic status of the child was insignificant in this study.     

Preschool Directors’ Attitudes Towards the Integration of Children with Disabilities Into Regular Preschools in New South Wales

THE ATTITUDES of preschool directors in New South Wales towards the integration of children with disabilities were surveyed using a questionnaire that had been developed in early studies in this area. Analysis of data showed that directors were most positive about children with mild impairments, for whom they felt they had appropriate training and resources. They were least positive about children who required additional help that was outside their regular duties. Skills required by teachers and directors involved in integration included general competence, knowledge of specialised techniques that are required and an ability to work with therapists, special advisors and other support staff. Directors who had postgraduate qualifications and those from community preschools tended to be more positive about integration than other groups. Overall, it was concluded that integration is most likely to be successful if children are placed in centres where staff are positive and feel they have the necessary skills.     

School-based Interventions for Improving Disability Awareness and Attitudes Towards Disability of Students Without Disabilities: A Meta-analysis

Abstract

This article presents the results of a meta-analysis of the effects of school-based interventions for improving disability awareness and attitudes towards disability of students without disabilities in Kindergarten through secondary school grades in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). A total of 20 studies published between 2001 and 2017 were included, covering a sample of 2679 students without disabilities. The overall effect was statistically significant and large (d = 1.335). Specifically, subgroup analyses showed that the effects were large for contact-based interventions, use of materials, role-playing, and human rights interventions in that order. The school-based interventions were significantly more effective in improving attitudes towards disability than disability awareness. The intervention effects did not significantly differ by school levels. Results of meta-regression analyses showed that the number of sessions had significantly more impact than instructional time per session. Limitations, recommendations for future studies, and practical implications are discussed.     

Preschool Children's Concepts of Disability in Their Peers

Although mainstream preschool programs have been in existence since the 1970s, little is known about the ways in which typical children attempt to understand what it means for a peer to have a disability. In this study, 4-year-old children without disabilities who were enrolled in a mainstream preschool class explained their peers' disabilities by referring to concepts of immaturity, accident, or adaptive equipment to account for the behavioral differences that they observed. The implications of these cognitions for children's developing attitudes and behaviors toward peers with disabilities are discussed.     

Children's Norm Enforcement in Their Interactions With Peers

This study investigates how children negotiate social norms with peers. In Study 1, 48 pairs of 3‐ and 5‐year‐olds (N = 96) and in Study 2, 48 pairs of 5‐ and 7‐year‐olds (N = 96) were presented with sorting tasks with conflicting instructions (one child by color, the other by shape) or identical instructions. Three‐year‐olds differed from older children: They were less selective for the contexts in which they enforced norms, and they (as well as the older children to a lesser extent) used grammatical constructions objectifying the norms (“It works like this” rather than “You must do it like this”). These results suggested that children's understanding of social norms becomes more flexible during the preschool years.     

Perceptions of School and Aspirations of Rural Students with Learning Disabilities and Their Nondisabled Peers

This study examined the school perceptions and educational aspirations of 6,599 rural high school students, a sample that included 428 students with learning disabilities (LD). Regardless of disability status, rural high school students who had negative perceptions of school had less well‐defined postsecondary educational plans and less often aspired to complete college or pursue an advanced degree. Compared to nondisabled youth, rural students with LD were more likely to have negative perceptions of school and lower postsecondary aspirations. However, students with LD who had positive perceptions of school more often planned to pursue postsecondary education and aspired to complete college or an advanced degree. Implications for research and interventions pertaining to the educational attainment of students with LD are discussed.     

Children's Relationships with Peers: Differential Associations with Aspects of the Teacher-Child Relationship

Associations between children's social competence with peers and differential aspects of their teacher-child relationships were examined in a longitudinal sample of 48 4-year-old children enrolled in child care as infants. Toddler security with teacher was negatively associated with hostile aggression and positively with complex peer play and gregarious behaviors. Prosocial behaviors and withdrawing behaviors were associated with preschool security with teacher. Dependence on teachers as a preschooler was associated with social withdrawal and hostile aggression. Positive toddler teacher socialization was associated with higher perceived peer acceptance. Preschool teacher negative socialization was negatively associated with complex peer play, teacher ratings of hesitancy, friendly enactment, and accidental attribution and positively related to teacher ratings of difficulty.     

幼儿同伴交往能力培养的策略研究

同伴交往能力对幼儿的社会化发展具有十分重要的作用。良好的同伴交往能力有助于幼儿摆脱自我中心意识,促进幼儿的社会认知发展和减少问题行为,提高他们的社会适应能力。我国幼儿在成长过程中普遍存在缺乏适宜交往的环境与机会、浓厚的交往兴趣以及有效的交往技能的问题,严重制约了他们的社会性发展。为此,成人要为幼儿提供丰富多样的交往环境和机会,采用促进幼儿交往的有效方法,并在实践中帮助幼儿掌握基本的交往技能。