Designing and implementing an intervention to support early-career teachers' self-efficacy and attitudes to inclusion: a case study

Field, Lewis (2020). Designing and implementing an intervention to support early-career teachers' self-efficacy and attitudes to inclusion: a case study. University of Birmingham. Ap.Ed.&ChildPsy.D.

Preview

Field2020ApEd&ChildPsyD_vol1_Redacted.pdf
Text - Redacted Version
Available under License All rights reserved.
Download (9MB) | Preview

Field2020ApEd&ChildPsyD_vol2_Redacted.pdf
Text - Redacted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only until 25 November 2030.
Available under License All rights reserved.
Download (8MB)

Abstract

As of 2019, over 82% of pupils registered as having special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) were educated in mainstream (non-specialist) schools (DfE, 2019e). Outcomes for this cohort are consistently poor in comparison to their peers (DfE, 2020b). Authors suggest that a lack of adequate input throughout initial teacher training (ITT) and subsequent career and professional development (CPD) inhibit the development of teacher self-efficacy and the cultivation of teachers’ skills in supporting these pupils (Norwich and Nash, 2011; Coates, 2012; Hodkinson, 2009; MacBlain and Purdy, 2011). Crucially, newly qualified teachers consistently report feeling ill-prepared to teach pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) (NCTL, 2014b, 2015, 2016; DfE, 2017).

This research documents the development and implementation of a training intervention designed to support early-career teachers’ self-efficacy and attitudes to inclusion. The intervention blends knowledge components, identified through the literature, with problem-solving elements which credit these professionals as agentic and capable. A mixed-methods case study design was adopted, with Self-Efficacy Theory and Social Cognition Theory (Bandura, 1977, 1986) employed as appropriate lenses through which to develop the intervention and illuminate its impact. Quantitative findings indicated an improvement in ratings of participant self-efficacy across a range of measures, whilst attitudes to inclusion improved, though to a lesser extent. Qualitative findings suggested participants valued a range of components within the intervention, perhaps none more so than the problem-solving elements. Findings are explored within the limitations of the research, whilst implications for Educational Psychologists’ practice are considered.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ap.Ed.&ChildPsy.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ap.Ed.&ChildPsy.D.

Supervisor(s):