Knowledge of attention/deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) – a comparison of pre-service teachers in primary and special education in Germany

Abstract

Given that the majority of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) attend regular classroom settings in Germany, it is necessary for teachers to be well prepared to provide these children appropriate care and education on the basis of accurate knowledge of ADHD. Pre-service teachers should have enough learning possibilities in their curriculum about ADHD. The purpose of this study was to investigate German pre-service teachers' knowledge of ADHD by differentiating between their future school type, their study progress, their learning experiences, gender, and age. participants and procedureThe participants were 234 pre-service teachers of the University of Leipzig, Germany. The survey instrument constructed by Lee (2015) was slightly modified for pre-service teachers, and consists of the three subscales: (a) characteristics of ADHD, (b) causes of ADHD, and (c) subtypes of ADHD. resultsTotal accuracy of the knowledge of German pre-service teachers was 51.60%, inaccuracy was 21.60%, and no information was 25.80%. German pre-service teachers who majored in special education have a significantly higher accuracy rate than those who majored in primary education.The knowledge profiles consisting of total knowledge score and three domain-specific subscores can be explained significantly (ANOVAs) by the main effects and the interactions among the independent factors (a) future school type, (b) study progress, (c) experience by curriculum, and (d) personal experience. It was possible to discriminate significantly four pre-service teacher groups (differentiated by future school type and study progress) on the basis of their knowledge profiles by a discriminant analysis. conclusionsTeachers are an important target group for ADHD research because they play a major role in early diagnosis of ADHD as well as supporting their development. During their education, pre-service teachers need to be prepared for dealing appropriately with ADHD children in the classroom. This study provides a basic investigation of German pre-service teachers' needs of learning how to deal with ADHD children. key words primary education; special education; university curriculum; knowledge accuracy; knowledge of attention deficit disorders scale (KADDS)

Korean Pre-Service Teachers’ Knowledge of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): A Comparison with the German Sample

“…This result could be a good point to have in mind as pre-service teachers do not yet know enough about ADHD but still have an opportunity to learn the ADHD epidemiology through university education or the curriculum. Lee et al (2015) investigated German pre-service teachers' knowledge of ADHD by making differentiations based on the following four selected variables: (a) pre-service teachers' current major, either primary or secondary education at university (further: future school type); (b) pre-service teachers' current year of studies, either the third and fourth year of a Bachelor programme (further: study progress); (c) whether training on ADHD has been provided in university (further: university education) ; and (d) whether participants have personal experience in relation to ADHD (further: personal experience).…”

“…Teachers with accurate knowledge of ADHD can provide students' parents with proper advice and make suggestions to parents to get professional assessment and treatment (Anderson, Watt, Noble, & Shanley, 2012;Kos et al, 2004). Since pre-service teachers are very likely to have to manage students with ADHD, it is equally important for pre-service teachers to have correct knowledge of ADHD (Bekle, 2004;Kang et al, 2011;Lee et al, 2015;Sharma et al, 2006).…”

“…Lee & Witruk, 2016b), only a handful has researched pre-service teachers (e.g. Lee et al, 2015). Lee et al (2015) assessed 234 German pre-service teachers' knowledge of ADHD (in a true/false/don't know format).…”

“…Lee et al, 2015). Lee et al (2015) assessed 234 German pre-service teachers' knowledge of ADHD (in a true/false/don't know format). The total accuracy (correct responses) was found to be 51.60%, whereas inaccuracy (incorrect responses) made up 21.60%, and no information rate ('not known' responses) was 25.80 %.…”

“…The aim of this study was to investigate Korean pre-service teachers' knowledge of ADHD and to compare it with a previous German study (Lee, Lammers, & Witruk, 2015). Pre-service teachers' characteristics (e.g.…”