Support needs in working with students with developmental disabilities - teachers ' perspective

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine type and intensity of support that teachers consider necessary for working with students who have developmental disabilities. The sample consisted of 108 teachers, aged 24 to 61 (M=40.77; SD=9.97). The Needs Questionnaire (Rodríguez et al., 2012) was used to collect data on the required support. The results indicate a relatively high level of support needs in all four areas covered by the questionnaire, with the highest need expressed for social support, followed by the need for information and the need for additional resources, while the lowest level of support is needed in communicating about the child with developmental disability with others. The overall level of support needed by teachers from our sample does not differ statistically significantly between male and female teachers (t=0.640; p=0.524), nor between teachers employed in public and private schools (t=0.180; p=0.857). No statistically significant correlation was found between the need for support and age (r=-0.002; p=0.981) or years of work experience of the respondents (r=0.056; p=0.564). The obtained results provide an insight into the intensity and structure of teachers' needs for support in working with students with developmental disabilities and can represent a starting point for providing support aligned with the expressed needs, with the aim of increasing the quality of the teaching process.

Keywords

• developmental disabilities
• teachers
• teaching
• support