Background/Purpose
Considering that physical educators' attitudes toward teaching students with disabilities are related to professional preparation (Block & Rizzo, 1995), PETE programs must be proactive in preparing pre-service teachers for inclusion (DePauw & Goc Karp, 1994). Research has found increased favorable attitudes of pre-service physical educators resulting from coursework and practicum experiences (Folsom-Meek at al., 2000; Hodge & Jansma, 1998; 1999); however, no research to date has investigated this using the framework of self-efficacy theory. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of participation in an adapted physical education (APE) course and practicum on pre-service physical educators' self-efficacy beliefs toward teaching students with disabilities.
Method
Thirty pre-service physical educators enrolled in undergraduate APE courses were surveyed 3 times. Participants completed both the Situational-Specific Self-Efficacy for Physical Education Teacher Education Majors scale, which included intellectual disability (ID), physical disability (PD), and visual impairment (VI) subscales, and the Physical Educators Self-Efficacy Toward Including Students with Disabilities – Autism instrument.
Analysis/Results
Four separate repeated measures ANOVA revealed that participants' self-efficacy beliefs significantly improved across all disability types [ID, F(2, 28)=30.194, p<.001, ηρ˛=.510; PD, F(2, 27)=29.49, p<.001, ηρ˛=.513; VI, F(2, 27)=27.0, p<.001, ηρ˛=.542; autism, F(2, 28)=31.26, p<.001, ηρ˛=.51]. Follow up tests indicated that scores in all subscales, with the exception of VI, significantly increased across each time interval.
Conclusions
Consistent with prior research, results indicated that coursework and practicum experiences can positively influence pre-service physical educators' beliefs toward inclusion. Further research should explore the effects of practicum type on self-efficacy beliefs.
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