Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out how teacher self-efficacy affects the teaching of students with disabilities in an inclusive secondary school. The sample was made up of 30 special education students (level 400) of the Department of Educational Psychology of the University of Buea.

After analyzing the data using descriptive statistics, the main findings of the study were that teachers who have a higher sense of self-efficacy about their teaching and put more effort into their teaching are most likely to experience positive outcomes than those with a lower sense of self-efficacy.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

This chapter provides an overview of issues related to teaching students with special needs in a general secondary classroom setting. This review considers students diagnosed with a variety of disability types and with varying degrees of severity and is meant to give a controversial topic.

The first section presents a history of inclusion, a debate about the effectiveness of inclusion and the potential barriers faced by students with disabilities in a general secondary classroom and the potential barriers faced by the included students with special needs in a general classroom setting. The second section describes the research questions posed by this study.

Every developing nation is committed to providing relevant education to its citizens. This is usually done to enable individuals to acquire appropriate skills, abilities, and competencies so that they may live in and contribute meaningfully to the development of their society.

Education originated from two Latin words, “Educere” and “Educare”. “Educere” is translated to mean “to lead out or to bring out” while “Educare” is translated as “to read or to train”(Tambo,2003). In relation to education as a process and to a process by which persons (pupils and students) develop their intellectual, emotional, spiritual and physical power so as to be fully integrated in the society to which they belong. Special education is education offered to persons with special needs or persons with disabilities.

Historically, Special education began in an informal setting especially in the family circle where some parents and family members of persons with disabilities tried to teach their children skills, for example, showing a child with visual impairment how to wash his or her hands and how to move around the homes.

Also taught them how to count in their local dialects and the use of their local currency in buying and selling was also the early preoccupation of most parents in the early days in Cameroon. Today with the presence of inclusive education, where students with disabilities are allowed to study in the same classrooms as regular students paved a way for teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching students with disabilities in the general classroom setting.

Even though Cameroon as a country has gone a long way in increasing access to basic and secondary education for all, teachers` self-efficacy has played a great impact on the education of students with disabilities in a general secondary classroom. Spencer (1999) defines self-efficacy as a belief that one can handle a task. Bandura (1997) defines self-efficacy as “beliefs in one capability to organize and execute the courses of action requires to produce attainments “(p.3).  According to social learning theory, self-efficacy beliefs influenced the motivation that people have for completing tasks.

Inclusive Practices in the General Classroom Setting

Classrooms teachers are becoming increasingly responsible for educating students with special needs as more students diagnosed with disabilities are being taught in an inclusive classroom environment.  According to the U.S Department of Education (2002), approximately 96 percent of students with disabilities are being educated in the general education school setting.

Almost half of the students are being educated in the general education classroom for most of the days. That is, they are being educated in the general education classroom for at least an 80percent of the school day (U.S department of education, 2002).

The inclusion students with special needs in the general education classroom require that schools serve students with diagnosed disability in the least restrictive possible environment in accordance with individuals with disabilities in Education Act (IDEA,2004, PL 108-44). Rather than being pulled out of the classroom every day, students should serve as much as possible in the general education classroom through adaptation of the environment to suit their special needs.

Inclusion increases the responsibility of the classroom teachers in the education and development of students with diverse educational needs in their classrooms. For example, all students diagnosed with a disability are provided with an individualized educational plan (IEP) designed to meet their specific learning goals. As a result, classrooms teachers participate in the IEP planning and process and have a responsibility to address specific learning goals. Classroom teachers participate in the IEP planning and process and have the responsibility to address specific needs of each student with disabilities in their classrooms as well meeting the needs of the typically developing students.

Moreover, teaching students with special needs requires adapting the learning environment to the needs of the students so that, all students are seen as an equal part of the classroom learning community (Avamidis, Paralyss, & Burden, 2000). Effective teaching must meet the needs of all students in class. That is, those with and without diagnosed disabilities (Flem, Moen & Gudmundsdotter, 2004).

As such, classroom teachers are responsible for promoting both academic and social development in their classrooms and making the necessary adaptations in the environment to meet the developmental needs of all their students (Flem, et al., 2004).

Historically, there has been a debate about the effectiveness and appropriateness of inclusive practices. In the 1980s, researchers and educational specialists began calling for a restructuring of the special education system in schools as part of the regular education initiative (REI),(Bender,Vail & Scott,1995:Kavale & Forness, 2000:Semmel, Abernathy, Butera & Lesar, 1991).

During this time, most schools were using “pull-out” strategy in which students with special needs were removed from the general education classroom for instructions. Researchers began to push for a system that combines general and special education system, and allowing more students with special needs to be educated in the general classrooms with their peers (Wang, Reynolds, & Walberg, 1986: Semmel, et al.,1991).

Vaughn, Elbaun and Schum (1996) noted that there is disagreement over the effectiveness of including students with special needs in the general classroom setting. Included students with special needs faced several potential barriers to their success in the classroom. These barriers to be discussed below include Potential difficulties with their academic success, social integration, and teachers’ attitudes, and the preparation of teachers to meet the student’s needs in the general classroom setting.

The first barrier concerns the academic achievements of included students with special needs in the general classroom. Research has shown that most students with special needs struggled academically in the general classroom setting (U.S. Department of Education, SEELS Survey, 2001). Often, students with disabilities do not progress in elementary and middle schools along with their same-age peers.

As such, they tend to be held back at least once or begin their school experiences, later than their peers (SEELS Survey, 2001). According to the survey from the U.S department of education, parents reported that “26 percent of students with special needs in elementary and middle school has been retained in grade” (SEELS Survey, 2001,p.53) at some points during their academic carriers.

The second potential barrier that included students with special needs faced in the general classroom relates to the social integration of students among their classmates. One of the greatest benefits of inclusion is the opportunity of teaching children with special needs and to further their social development when they interact with others (Downing & Eichinger, 2003).

In this situation, exposure to typically developing peers allows students with disabilities particularly those with social skill deficits, to learn appropriate interactions through the observation and imitation of their more socially adept peers (Cooper&Filer,1999).

Some teachers worry that teaching children with disabilities in a general classroom will not have positive effects on the social development of the included students. Other students may see certain behavior as a barrier in creating friendships (Semmel, et al., 1991). Early studies suggested that included students with mild disabilities tend to be more socially accepted by their typically developing classmates and their peers (Taylor, Asher, & Williams, 1987).

More recent studies have indicated that, included students with special needs function socially and as well, not better than their peers who are educated outside the general classroom setting (Vaughn, et al.,1996). While they may begin the year with less reciprocal friendship over time, including students shows dramatic increases in the number of reciprocal friendships with classmates (Vaughn, et al., 1996).

The third potential barrier that included students with disabilities faced concerned teachers’ attitudes and preparation for teaching students with special needs in inclusive classrooms. Historically, opponents of the REI noted that, many teachers react negatively towards the idea of teaching students with special needs in the general classroom since they believed that the educational needs of students with disabilities could not be met in the general classroom (Bender, et al., 1995, Larrivee & Cook, 1979).

Previous research suggests that general education teachers do not feel adequately trained and prepared to meet the academic and social needs of students with special needs in the classroom setting (Semmel et al., 1991: Vaughn, & Schumm, 1995: Tapasak & Walther-Thomas,1999).

As a result of perceived a lack of teachers preparation, many classroom teachers are not confident in their ability to adapt to the classroom environment to suit the needs of students with special needs, which may influence their belief whether the needs of these students can be met in the general classroom setting (Buell, et al., 1999: Semmel, et al., 1991: Vaughn & Schumm, 1995).

The reasons for some teacher’s negative attitudes towards the education of included students with special needs tend to come about a specific lack of teachers’ training. For instance, Larrivee and Cook (1979) demonstrated that the amount of coursework, knowledge of effective inclusive strategy, and the degree of the previous success of students with special needs all influenced current teachers’ perception about inclusive educational practices.

One of the influential factors contributing to teacher’s attitudes about teaching students with special needs in the general classroom is teachers’ past experiences and training (Hoy & Spero, 2005).

Specifically, teachers who believe they are prepared to meet the needs included students in their classroom tend to view inclusion in a more positive light than teachers who feel they lack the necessary skills to effectively adapt the classroom environment to meet the academic and social needs of each student. In this way, teacher’s attitudes about inclusion are closely tied to teacher’s self-efficacy about teaching students with special needs in their classrooms (Larrivee & Cook, 1979).

However, inclusive schools welcome students with various disabilities types, being mild or severe, hidden or obvious. Research shows that the degree and severity of disabilities that students have are the major factors that influenced the negative attitudes of teachers towards inclusion (Avramidis & Norwich, 2002).

In general, studies demonstrated that students with emotional and behavioral disabilities are deemed to be particularly problematic for inclusive educational settings. Teachers in this setting consider them as a problem than students with other types of disabilities in their classrooms (Avramidis, et al, 2000). Rapak and Kasemarek (2010) reported that, teachers claim that it is hard for them to control classroom behavior when students with different types of disabilities are included in their classrooms, especially the once with disabilities and behavioral problems.

Statement of the Problem

Cameroon law No.201/002 of 13 April 2010 relating to the education of persons with disabilities chapter III section 24, states that persons living with disabilities will have access to normal, general, and vocational education: states and private agencies to train trainers. The state shall subsidize the acquisition of training aids to be used in the training of persons with disabilities.

Inadequate teaching Aids in our school makes teaching and learning difficult for teachers and students with disabilities in the classroom. Students with disabilities are always assessed the same way as normal students who have the available materials suitable for their studies than students with special needs. With the emergence of Teaching Aids, students with disabilities can be assessed separately in an inclusive environment.

Main Research Objectives

To investigate factors that are related to teacher’s attitudes and perception of their self-efficacy towards the education of students with disabilities in secondary school and the problems teachers experienced in the implementation of the education of students with disabilities in a general secondary classroom in Cameroon.

For the purpose of this study, teacher self-efficacy was defined as teachers’ reported beliefs in their own ability to adapt to the environment

to meet the needs of the students in their classrooms (Wolfolk & Hoy, 1990). Previous research has shown that, teachers self-efficacy has an important impact on teachers attitudes towards the education of students with disabilities in a general classroom, as well as teachers instructional classroom and practices to adapt the classroom environment to meet the needs of included students in their classrooms(Jordan&Stanovich,2004:Poulou,2005)

Specific objectives

1. To investigate the attitude of teachers and their self-efficacy in teaching children with disabilities in a general classroom.
2. To investigate the teacher working experience towards the education of children with disabilities.
3. To investigate whether teachers in an inclusive environment has the ability to select and used different teaching method in teaching children with disabilities in a general classroom.
4. To investigate whether teachers have the professional knowledge and skills in teaching children with disabilities in a general classroom.