This study examined the attitudes of future physical educators toward teaching students with disabilities. Physical educators and other enrolled students (n = 704) from 40 colleges and universities across 21 states nationwide, were participants. The Physical Educators' Attitudes Toward Teaching Individuals with Disabilities-III (Rizzo, 1993) instrument was used for data collection. Attitude differences were examined as a function of participants' gender, ethnic status, course work preparation, academic major, and experience teaching individuals with disabilities. Also, examined were participants' perceived comfort levels toward teaching students with sensory and physical disabilities. GLM Factorial analysis of variance procedures revealed that females exhibited significantly higher attitude scores than males toward teaching students with disabilities. In addition, participants with experience teaching individuals with disabilities exhibited higher attitude scores than those with no such experiences. Moreover, female participants with teaching experiences exhibited significantly higher attitude scores than females and males with no such experiences, and males with experience teaching individuals with disabilities. Further analyses by gender indicated that females' perceived comfort level was significantly higher, that is, with less ambivalence, than for males toward teaching students with physical disabilities. No gender difference was found toward teaching pupils with sensory impairments. Participants' ethnic status, academic major, and course work preparation were onsignificant factors with respect to overall attitude scores toward teaching students with disabilities. In contrast, however, course work preparation was found significant regarding participants' perceived comfort level teaching students with sensory and physical disabilities.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1977). Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and review of empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 888-918.
2.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
3.
Aloia, G.F., Knutson, R., Minner, S.H., & Von Seggern, M. (1980). Physical education teachers' initial perceptions of handicapped children. Mental Retardation , 18(2), 85-86.
4.
American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. (1987). Directory of physical educators in higher education: Physical education gold book. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
5.
Ary, D., Jacobs, L.C., & Razavieh, A. (1990). Introduction to research in education (4th ed.). Orlando, FL: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
6.
Block, M.E. (1994a). A teacher's guide to including students with disabilities in regular physical education. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.
7.
Block, M.E. (1994b). Why all students with disabilities should be included in regular physical education. Palaestra, 10(3), 17-24.
8.
Chasey, W.C., Swartz, J.D., Chasey, C.C., Brogman, R., & Sandler, H. (1975). Attitude change following exposure to handicapped children in clinical physical education. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 9, 68-74.
9.
Conine, T.A. (1969). Acceptance or rejection of disabled persons by teachers. The Journal of School Health, 39, 278-281.
10.
Connolly, M. (1994). Practicum experiences and journal writing in adapted physical education: Implications for teacher education. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 11, 306-328.
11.
Deaux, K., & Wrightsman, L.S. (1988). Social psychology (5th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole .
12.
Downs, P., & Williams, T. (1994). Student attitudes toward integration of people with disabilities in activity settings: AEuropean comparison. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 11, 32-43.
13.
Duchane, K.A., & French, R. (1998). Attitudes and grading practices of secondary physical educators in regular education settings. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 15, 370-380.
14.
Eichinger, J., Rizzo, T., & Sirotnik, B. (1991). Changing attitudes toward people with disabilities . Teacher Education and Special Education, 14, 121-126.
15.
Fishbein, M. (1967). Attitudes and the prediction of behavior. In Fishbein, M. (Ed.), Readings in attitude theory and measurement (pp. 477-492), New York, NY : John Wiley.
16.
Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Beliefs, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
17.
Folsom-Meek, S.L., Groteluschen, W., & Nearing, R.J. (1996). Influence of academic major and hands-on experience on college students' attitudes toward learners with disabilities. Brazilian International Journal of Adapted Physical Education Research , 3(1), 47-66.
18.
Gay, L.R. (1992). Educational research competencies for analysis and application (4th ed.). New York, NY: Macmillan.
19.
Gravetter, F.J., & Wallnau, L.B. (1992). Statistics for the behavioral sciences. St.Paul, MN: West Publishing. Heikinaro-Johansson , P., & Sherrill, C. (1994). Integrating children with special needs in physical education: A school district assessment model from Finland. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly , 11, 44-56.
20.
Heikinaro-Johansson, P., & Telama, R. (1990). Downstream or upstream with mainstreaming ? Handicapped students at Finnish secondary schools. In G. Doll-Tepper, C. Dahms, B. Doll, & H. von Selzam (Eds.), Adapted physical activity: An interdisciplinary approach (pp. 159-165). Berlin: Springer-Verlag .
21.
Hodge, S.R. (1998). Prospective physical education teachers' attitudes toward teaching students with disabilities. Physical Educator , 55(2), 68-77.
22.
Hodge, S.R., & Jansma, P. (1997/98). Attitude change of physical education majors toward teaching students with varied disability types. Clinical Kinesiology, 51(4), 72-79.
23.
Hodge, S.R., & Jansma, P. (1999). Effects of contact time and location of practicum experiences on attitudes of physical education majors. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 16, 48-63.
24.
Hopkins, K.D., Glass, G., & Hopkins, B.R. (1987). Basic statistics for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
25.
Jansma, P. (1988). Teaching the introductory adapted physical education course. In C. Sherrill (Ed.), Leadership training in adapted physical education (pp. 302-309), Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
26.
Jansma, P., & French, R. (1994). Specialphysical education: Physical activity, sports, and recreation. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
27.
Jansma, P., & Shultz, B. (1982). Validation and use of a mainstreaming attitude inventory with physical educators. American Corrective Therapy Journal, 36, 150-158.
Mueller, D.J. (1986). Measuring social attitudes: A handhook for researchers and practitioners. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
34.
Murata, N., Hodge, S.R., & Jansma, P. (1994). Physical educators' perceptions on inclusion: A pilot study. Future Focus: Ohio Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, 15(2), 7-14.
Rizzo, T.L. (1985). Attributes related to teachers' attitudes. Perceptual and motor skills, 60, 739-742.
38.
Rizzo, T.L. (1988a). Opinion and attitude assessment. In C. Sherrill (Ed.), Leadership training in adapted physical education (pp. 245-247), Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
39.
Rizzo, T.L. (1988b). Validation of the physical educators' attitude toward teaching handicapped students' survey. Abstracts of Research Papers of the Research Consortium of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Kansas City, MO.
40.
Rizzo, T.L. (1993). The physical educators' attitude toward teaching individuals with disabilities-III Survey. San Bernardino, CA: California State University. Unpublished survey.
41.
Rizzo, T.L., Bishop, P., & Tobar, D. (1997). Attitudes of soccer coaches toward youth players with mild mental retardation: A pilot study. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 14, 238-251.
42.
Rizzo, T.L., & Kirkendall, D.R. (1995). Teaching students with mild disabilities: What affects attitudes of future physical educators? Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 12, 205-216.
43.
Rizzo, T.L., & Vispoel, W.P. (1991). Physical educators' attributes and attitudes toward teaching students with handicaps. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 8, 4-11.
44.
Rizzo, T.L., & Vispoel, W.P. (1992). Changing attitudes about teaching students with handicaps. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 9, 54-63.
45.
Rizzo, T.L., & Wright, R.G. (1987). Secondary school physical educators' attitudes toward teaching students with handicaps. American Corrective Therapy Journal, 41, 52-55.
46.
Rizzo, T.L., & Wright, R.G. (1988). Physical educators' attitudes toward teaching students with handicaps. Mental Retardation, 26, 307-309.
47.
Rowe, J., & Stutts, R.M. (1987). Effects of practica type, experience, and gender on attitudes of undergraduate physical education majors toward disabled persons . Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 4, 268-277.
48.
Scheaffer, R.L., Mendenhall, W., & Ott, L. (1990). Elementary survey sampling (4th ed.). Boston, MA: PWS-KENT Publishing .
Stewart, C.C. (1990). Effect of practica types in preservice adapted physical education curriculum on attitudes toward disabled populations. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 10, 76-83.
51.
Stewart, C.C. (1991). Labels and the attitudes of undergraduate physical education students toward disabled individuals. The Physical Educator, 48(3), 142-145.
52.
Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children. (1993). National directory of special education personnel preparation programs. Washington, D.C: National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities .
53.
Theodorakis, Y., Bagiatis, K., & Goudas, M. (1995). Attitudes toward teaching individuals with disabilities: Application of planned behavior theory. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 12, 151-160.
54.
Tripp, A., French, R., & Sherrill, C. (1995). Contact theory and attitudes of children in physical education programs toward peers with disabilities. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 12, 323-332.
55.
Tripp, A., & Sherrill, C. (1991). Attitude theories of relevance to adapted physical education. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 8, 12-27.
56.
Webb, D., & Pope, C.C. (1999). Including within an inclusive context: Going beyond labels and categories. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 70(7), 41-47.
