Educators’ Opinions and Perceptions of the Direct Instruction Program, and its Effectiveness for Educating Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Year: 2015
Type: other
Abstract: This study explored educators’ opinions of the Direct Instruction Programs, and their perceptions of its effectiveness for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Four educators were interviewed from Evergreen Academy, a school in Southern Ontario. It was found that these teachers had an overall positive opinion of the Direct Instruction Programs, and had a high self-efficacy towards utilizing the program to teach students on the Autism Spectrum. It was identified that insufficient professional development, inexperience, and a lack of commitment could be barriers to effective Direct Instruction teaching, yet these were not issues for the participants in this study. The educators in this study enjoyed aspects of using the program, including: less time planning lessons, consistency, classroom management strategies, positive reinforcement, and homogenous groupings. There was some discrepancy in the findings as to the ability to be creative in a Direct Instruction lesson, yet participants believed that there were other ways to be creative in the classroom. This study also revealed that these educators perceived the Direct Instruction Programs to have a positive effect on student academic success, self-esteem/self-confidence/self-efficacy, as well as a reduction in disruptive behaviour and anxiety for students. Educators in this study believed that aspects of the Direct Instruction Programs including consistency, homogenous groupings, fast paced lessons, repetition, and positive praise, were specifically beneficial to students on the Autism Spectrum. Overall, participants believed that the Direct Instruction Programs were enjoyable to teach and beneficial for students on the Autism Spectrum.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: S. K. Johnson
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2291455200