Degree Name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Program

Educational Leadership

Date of Award

May 1988

Abstract

The problem of this study was to identify teacher training principles which would aid day care teachers in integrating handicapped children into their classrooms. This was a descriptive study which utilized a questionnaire methodology. The questionnaire was administered to teachers of randomly selected day care centers in Tennessee. The sample size was 347. The questionnaire identified from the literature review was the Stages of Concern Questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to identify concerns of individuals toward an innovation. The instrument was modified to be used in identifying the concerns of day care teachers toward mainstreaming young handicapped children into day care centers. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data obtained from 105 respondents to the 35-item questionnaire. Analysis of the data collected to answer the research questions revealed the following: The educational and training background of teachers involved in mainstreaming should be developmentally oriented. From a developmental base day care teachers can make the transition from teaching normally developing children to teaching an integrated classroom by mastering five additional topics: assessment techniques, systematic planning techniques, knowledge about developmental exceptionalities, knowledge and teaching skills related to the promotion of positive social interaction of children, and an understanding of the additional job demands of an integrated classroom. The concerns of individuals tend to be developmental and tend to move from self concerns (Stages 0, 1, 2) to task concerns (Stage 3) to impact concerns (Stages 4, 5, 6). The movement through the stages of concern can be facilitated but not forced. The person(s) planning the interventions or training must plan training that helps resolve existing concerns while facilitating the individual(s)' move to the next stage of concern (Hord, Rutherford, Huling-Austin, & Hall, 1987). Teacher training principles were designed using the findings obtained from the questionnaire. The mainstream topics suggested by the review of literature necessary for teachers of integrated classrooms were cross-tabulated with the intervention strategies suggested by the stages of most intense concerns. The suggestions obtained from the review of literature related to the format of adult inservice training were considered as factors in the presentation of the intervention strategies. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

Document Type

Dissertation - unrestricted

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