Indonesian Educators’ Knowledge and Beliefs about Teaching Children with Autism

Abstract

There is a large number of children with autism who need to be taught within the Indonesian education system. A significant influence on how their needs are perceived are the epistemological and cultural beliefs of teachers. This research is the first to examine these issues in the context of the Indonesian government's intention to develop an inclusive education system. An analysis of 136 questionnaire responses from teachers and educational therapists indicated that although only a minority was aware of, or had been trained in, established autism interventions, children with autism are being taught within Indonesian schools. This included being taught within regular schools. The data suggest that having access to information about autism in the Bahasa Indonesia language plays a role in educators' beliefs about the stigmatization of teachers and parents of autistic children. Teachers' epistemological beliefs were found to be linked to their beliefs in inclusive education. This research suggests that is essential for educational research to acknowledge the influence of the cultural milieu within which inclusive education is being developed. The implications of this research for how the development of inclusive education can be supported within Indonesia are discussed.

Pre-School Teachers’ Knowledge, Belief, Identification Skills, and Self-Efficacy in Identifying Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Conceptual Framework to Identify Children with ASD

“…The study noted that increased knowledge in ASD could increase the clinical confidence of health professionals. Bandura [60] confirmed these findings, stating that both knowledge and performance are thought to affect self-efficacy [44]. Therefore, studies have turned to teacher training to explain the gap in study and practice.…”

“…(Sheely, 2020) [60] The aims of this study were to examine the context of the Indonesian government's intention to develop an inclusive education system.…”

“…However, this power is linked to other variables such as knowledge, skills, beliefs, attitude, and the individual's intention [44]. Based on Bandura's [60] definition, self-efficacy refers to preschool teachers' beliefs about their ability to successfully perform a particular behavior [36,87,88]. Moreover, a high sense of self-efficacy is positively related to promising results.…”

“…Therefore, studies have turned to teacher training to explain the gap in study and practice. Moreover, based on Bandura's [60] theory, teachers who believe in their ability to address behavioral problems such as ASD would work towards making a difference for those children (p. 560). Hence, self-efficacy is one of the most crucial factors affecting whether or not the teachers will apply classroom-based training programs or educational modules in early childhood development and whether or not they would be able to identify problematic behavior such as ASD [92].…”

“…However, some studies found teachers to be generally confident in their ability to deal with children with ASD, while others found that teachers had a low level of confidence regarding special-needs children suggesting they need more training in special education [97]. In line with Bandura's [60] theory, a teacher with more knowledge and training specific to catering to children with ASD would have higher self-efficacy to deal with the affected children and could identify them early on [9].…”