Teachers' decisions in classroom reflect their underlying thoughts and feelings about their students. Based on this assumption, this study aimed to identify teachers' thoughts and responses in relation to students with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD). The study was carried out in two stages. The first stage aimed to identify the emotional and behavioural difficulties which teachers perceived as problematic, and the degree of prevalence of these in their current classes. A sample of 170 Greek elementary teachers completed a Behaviour Inventory, asking for their ratings of the severity and prevalence of a list of emotional, conduct and mixed behaviour problems. It was found that teachers were mostly concerned about emotional and mixed problems and perceived the conduct and mixed problems as more prevalent. Based on their responses, 20 teachers were interviewed in depth about their views on EBD, providing information for the second stage of the study. The second stage aimed to explore teachers' causal attributions, cognitive and emotional responses and coping strategies with EBD children, and propose an integrating model that could explain their actions towards them. Three hundred and ninety one teachers completed an Attribution Inventory, presenting vignettes with the emotional, conduct and mixed behaviour problems from the first stage. It was found that teachers perceived school factors as causal of EBD, expressed their sympathy for EBD children, perceived themselves as responsible, self-efficacious and inclined to help, and used and suggested as effective supportive techniques to handle them. It was also found that teachers' causal attributions predicted their emotional and cognitive responses. Perceptions of their own self-efficacy and responsibility, of the remediable nature of EBD, and their feelings for the EBD children predicted their intentional behaviour. Intentional behaviour, in conjunction with perceptions of effective coping strategies, eventually predicted their actual behaviour. Teachers' background factors, studied in both stages, did not relate to their perceptions of emotional and behavioural difficulties. This study is discussed in terms of its contribution to our understanding of teachers' perceptions of and decisions about emotional and behavioural difficulties, with relevance to teacher trainers and policy makers. 2
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:536189 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Poulou, Maria |
| Publisher | University College London (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10020334/ |
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