Date
5-22-2024
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Chair
Garnia Holman
Keywords
Teachers, attitudes, self-efficacy, inclusion, pre-kindergarten, early childhood education, special needs
Disciplines
Education | Special Education and Teaching
Recommended Citation
Carter, Susanne Williamson, "A Phenomenological Investigation of North Carolina's General Pre-Kindergarten Teachers' Attitudes and Perceived Self-Efficacy Toward Inclusion" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 5631.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5631
Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to investigate and describe North Carolina’s general Pre-Kindergarten teachers’ lived experiences concerning their attitudes and perceived self-efficacy towards inclusion. The theories guiding this research study were Bandura’s social learning theory and Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior. The social learning theory laid the foundation for the importance of positive attitudes and a high sense of self-efficacy toward inclusion. The theory of planned behavior grounded the idea that teachers’ attitudes influence their behaviors and actions. Therefore, negative attitudes can cause teachers to be negative towards including special needs children. Ten general NC Pre-K teachers were selected to participate in this study through purposeful sampling. The study took place in two school districts in North Carolina. Data were collected through individual interviews, a focus group interview, and document artifacts. The data was analyzed and coded into themes. Four major themes emerged from the data: Pre-K teachers define and describe inclusion, the main influences of teacher attitudes towards inclusion, the main influences of perceived self-efficacy regarding inclusion, and barriers to successful inclusion. The results from the data showed that NC Pre-K teachers had positive attitudes towards including children with mild and medium special needs but a negative attitude towards including children with severe special needs. The findings also revealed that support, training, and resources were the main influences of negative attitudes, low perceived self-efficacy, and barriers to successful inclusion. The findings from this study can assist those that govern the NC Pre-K program by addressing factors that influence negative teacher attitudes and low self-efficacy toward inclusion among NC Pre-K teachers.
