Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T21:42:57.288Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Subjective Norm and Attitudes of Preservice Teachers Toward Pupils With a Disability: An Experiment Based on the Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2020

Elke Emmers ,
Dieter Baeyens  and
Katja Petry
Elke Emmers*
Affiliation:
KU Leuven, Belgium
Dieter Baeyens
Affiliation:
KU Leuven, Belgium
Katja Petry
Affiliation:
KU Leuven, Belgium
*
*Corresponding author. Email: elke.emmers@kuleuven.be
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Both the attitude of the preservice teacher and the subjective norm in the teacher-training program play a crucial role in the process towards inclusive education (Donnelly & Watkins, 2011). However, little research has been done on influencing the attitudes of preservice teachers via the subjective norm. Two studies were carried out using a pre- and post-test with students of the teacher-training program (N = 24, N = 34) who were divided into 2 experimental conditions in which the subjective norm was manipulated in the form of positive or negative discourse towards pupils with disabilities. Attitudes were assessed by the Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes Towards Children With Disabilities (CATCH) Scale (Rosenbaum, Armstrong, & King, 1986). Results show that we can cautiously assume that the subjective norm has an influence on the attitudes of the preservice teachers and that cognitive dissonance was experienced in which preservice teachers changed their own attitudes as a function of the subjective norm. The results of this study are therefore a plea for teacher education programs to not only focus on strong inclusive curricula but also pay sufficient attention to the inclusive mindset of teacher educators as role models for preservice teachers.

Keywords

inclusive educationsubjective normtheory of planned behaviourattitudes
Type
Original Articles
Information
Australasian Journal of Special and Inclusive Education , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , July 2021 , pp. 49 - 61
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

This manuscript was accepted under the Editorship of Michael Arthur-Kelly.

References

Ajzen, I. (1985). From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. In Kuhl, J. & Beckmann, J. (Eds.), Action control: From cognition to behavior (pp. 11–39). Berlin, Germany: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69746-3_2 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1977). Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and review of empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 888–918. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.84.5.888 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Avramidis, E., Bayliss, P., & Burden, R. (2000). Student teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusion of children with special educational needs in the ordinary school. Teaching and Teacher Education, 16, 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(99)00062-1 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Avramidis, E., & Norwich, B. (2002). Teachers’ attitudes towards integration/inclusion: A review of the literature. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 17, 129–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856250210129056 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A. (1969). Social-learning theory of identificatory processes. In Goslin, D. A. (Ed.), Handbook of socialization theory and research (pp. 213–262). Chicago, IL: Rand McNally.Google Scholar
Barker, G. P., & Graham, S. (1987). Developmental study of praise and blame as attributional cues. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 62–66. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.79.1.62 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bossaert, G., Colpin, H., Pijl, S. J., & Petry, K. (2011). The attitudes of Belgian adolescents towards peers with disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32, 504–509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2010.12.033 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brannon, L. A., Tagler, M. J., & Eagly, A. H. (2007). The moderating role of attitude strength in selective exposure to information. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 611–617. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2006.05.001 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, J. M. (2006). Changing children’s attitudes toward autism: A process of persuasive communication. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 18, 251–272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-006-9015-7 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conderman, G., & Johnston-Rodriguez, S. (2009). Beginning teachers’ views of their collaborative roles. Preventing School Failure, 53, 235–244. https://doi.org/10.3200/PSFL.53.4.235-244 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corrigan, P. W., River, L. P., Lundin, R. K., Penn, D. L., Uphoff-Wasowski, K., Campion, J., … & Kubiak, M. A. (2001). Three strategies for changing attributions about severe mental illness. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 27, 187–195. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.schbul.a006865 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Boer, A., Pijl, S. J., Post, W., & Minnaert, A. (2012). Which variables relate to the attitudes of teachers, parents and peers towards students with special educational needs in regular education? Educational Studies, 38, 433–448. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2011.643109 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Fever, F., & Flament, I. (2005). De school voor allen [The school for all]. In Grietens, H., Vanderfaeillie, J., & Hellinckx, W. (Eds.), Handboek jeugdhulpverlening: Een orthopedagogisch perspectief (pp. 235–265). Leuven, Belgium: ACCO.Google Scholar
Donnelly, V., & Watkins, A. (2011). Teacher education for inclusion in Europe. Prospects, 41, 341–353. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-011-9199-1 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eagly, A. H., & Chaiken, S. (1993). The psychology of attitudes. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers.Google Scholar
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson.Google Scholar
Gawronski, B., & Strack, F. (2004). On the propositional nature of cognitive consistency: Dissonance changes explicit, but not implicit attitudes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 535–542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2003.10.005 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassanein, E. E. A. (2015). Inclusion, disability and culture. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-923-4 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hwang, Y.-S., & Evans, D. (2011). Attitudes towards inclusion: Gaps between belief and practice. International Journal of Special Education, 26(1), 136–146.Google Scholar
Jonas, E., Schulz-Hardt, S., Frey, D., & Thelen, N. (2001). Confirmation bias in sequential information search after preliminary decisions: An expansion of dissonance theoretical research on selective exposure to information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 557–571. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.80.4.557 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klaassen, C., & Wessels, J. (2010). De voorbeeldfunctie van de docent in het vakcollege. Nijmegen, The Netherlands: Radboud Universiteit.Google Scholar
Lambe, J. (2011). Pre-service education and attitudes towards inclusion: The role of the teacher educator within a permeated teaching model. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 15, 975–999. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603110903490705 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacFarlane, K., & Woolfson, L. M. (2013). Teacher attitudes and behavior toward the inclusion of children with social, emotional and behavioral difficulties in mainstream schools: An application of the theory of planned behavior. Teaching and Teacher Education, 29, 46–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.08.006 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Education. (2014). Decreet betreffende maatregelen voor leerlingen met specifieke onderwijsbehoeften -M-decreet [Decree concerning measures for learners with special educational needs – M-decree]. (2014).Google Scholar
Morton, J. F., & Campbell, J. M. (2008). Information source affects peers’ initial attitudes toward autism. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 29, 189–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2007.02.006 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nowicki, E. A., & Sandieson, R. (2002). A meta-analysis of school-age children’s attitudes towards persons with physical or intellectual disabilities. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 49, 243–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912022000007270 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rillotta, F., & Nettelbeck, T. (2007). Effects of an awareness program on attitudes of students without an intellectual disability towards persons with an intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 32, 19–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668250701194042 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosenbaum, P. L., Armstrong, R. W., & King, S. M. (1986). Children’s attitudes toward disabled peers: A self-report measure. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 11, 517–530. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/11.4.517 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schulze, M. (2010). Understanding the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities. Advocate, 1, 1–4.Google Scholar
Sharma, U., Forlin, C., & Loreman, T. (2008). Impact of training on pre-service teachers’ attitudes and concerns about inclusive education and sentiments about persons with disabilities. Disability & Society, 23, 773–785. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687590802469271 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharma, U., & Sokal, L. (2015). The impact of a teacher education course on pre-service teachers’ beliefs about inclusion: An international comparison. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 15, 276–284. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-3802.12043 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shevlin, M., & Miles, J. N. V. (1998). Effects of sample size, model specification and factor loadings on the GFI in confirmatory factor analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 25, 85–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(98)00055-5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiff, J. B., & Mongeau, P. A. (2016). Persuasive communication (3rd ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Subban, P., & Sharma, U. (2006). Primary school teachers’ perceptions of inclusive education in Victoria, Australia. International Journal of Special Education, 21(1), 42–52.Google Scholar
Tamm, M., & Prellwitz, M. (2001). ‘If I had a friend in a wheelchair’: Children’s thoughts on disabilities. Child: Care, Health and Development, 27, 223–240. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2214.2001.00156.x Google Scholar
Triandis, H. C. (1971). Attitude and attitude change. New York, NY: Wiley.Google Scholar
Vandenbussche, H., & Schauwer, E. D. (2018). The pursuit of belonging in inclusive education – insider perspectives on the meshwork of participation. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 22, 969–982. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2017.1413686 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walsh, S. (2013). Classroom discourse and teacher development. Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Winzer, M., & Mazurek, K. (2011). Canadian teachers’ associations and the inclusive movement for students with special needs. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 2011(116), 1–24. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ913808 Google Scholar
Yetter, G., & Capaccioli, K. (2010). Differences in responses to Web and paper surveys among school professionals. Behavior Research Methods, 42, 266–272. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.42.1.266 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed