Alternative school teachers' efficacy perceptions teaching students with behavioral difficulties
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: The purpose of this qualitatively-driven mixed methods inquiry was to explore teachers' perceptions of their efficacy as it relates to their role teaching students with behavioral difficulties-specifically students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Autism, and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder-in an alternative school setting.Teacher efficacy has received significant attention by educational researchers; however, minimal research has explored the teacher efficacy of these teachers, and little is known about their experiences in alternative school environments.Surveys and in-depth interviews were utilized to provide rich data on four alternative school teachers' efficacy perceptions.Through data analysis, three key findings emerged that related to the teachers' sense of efficacy, specifically their sense of efficacy in classroom engagement, instructional practices, and classroom management.These findings displayed the complex nature of the construct and delineated the difficulty in identifying the teachers as exclusively highly efficacious in these three realms of their teaching.Findings were also examined in relationship to the literature in teacher efficacy and in teaching students with behavioral difficulties.This research provides an underexplored representation of this specific teaching role and has important implications relevant to current school settings, as well as general and special teacher education programs.
Author: Elizabeth Shevock Anderson
Institution: Kent State University
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2522420668