Perceptions of Special Education Teachers on the Internal Efficacy of Their Institutions: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Special education institutions are providing services to meet the unique needs of special students. Internal efficacy of any institution determines its effectiveness in terms of its outcomes. The current study was designed to explore the internal efficacy of special education institutions. The population of the study comprised of teachers teaching in the special education institution of the Lahore city. Sample of the study consisted of 200 teachers randomly selected from public and private sector special education institutions, currently performing their duties in the Lahore city. The study was quantitative in its nature conducting with descriptive research design. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect the data from the teachers after getting permission from its author. Initially, the questionnaire was piloted on a small number of participants to ensure its reliability. That was confirmed through Cronbach alpha (.750). After ensuring ethical considerations, researchers collected data by themselves from the teachers. The data were analyzed using SPSS. Results of independent sample t-test show the statistically significant difference between the public and private sector institutions’ internal efficacy. The internal efficacy of public sector special education institutions was better as compared to private sector special education institutions. Majority of the special education teachers serving in public sector institutes ranked the institutional communication, working environment, quality of education and professional support as major determined of internal efficacy of their institutions. The study has recommended that the private sector special education institutions need to enhance their internal efficacy.

Psychological Functioning of Teachers Working in General and Special School Settings

“…To the writer's knowledge, there is no such study being conducted in the terms of psychological variables, which incorporated both teachers from general and special educational settings. Instead, most of the research has been conducted on special education teachers regarding teachers' perception of internal efficacy in public and private special education institutions (Zahid & Ashraf, 2020), mental health of married special education professionals (Nuzhat-ul-Ain & Rafique, 2020), etc. Special education teachers have to deal with children with numerous disabilities, shifted etiologies, conflicting symptomology, and unfortunate anticipations for significant progress which makes this setting more challenging.…”