Preschool Teachers' Knowledge, Opinions, and Educational Experiences with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract

The main purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate preschool teachers' past educational experiences, knowledge, and opinions related to ADHD. A second purpose was to determine if specific teacher variables (e.g., years of experience) were associated with higher knowledge of ADHD as measured by a criterion-referenced test. One hundred thirty-eight preschool teachers completed a questionnaire that included demographical information and questions related to knowledge and experiences with ADHD in preschoolers. Descriptive findings indicated that preschool teachers' most common educational experiences related to ADHD included reading articles in magazines and journals. In addition, preschool teachers did not feel that they knew very much about the process of assessing ADHD in preschoolers. Analyses of teacher variables revealed that teachers with graduate level educations did better on the test on ADHD than teachers with vocational or high school level educations. Results also indicated that teachers' ratings of their own knowledge of ADHD were not associated with test performance. The implications of these findings for professional development are discussed.

Knowledge and Attitudes of Preschool Teachers Regarding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

“…Compared to samples in which the majority reported journals to be their main source of information (14), this may reflect either courses being more commonly available in our country for preschool teachers, or a lower interest in reading articles about ADHD. If the former hypothesis is correct, this should be viewed as a significant opportunity to increase teachers' knowledge.…”

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as a Barrier to Learning and Development within the South African Context: The Perspective of Teachers

“…The question arises as to whether a teacher, who has obtained a more advanced level of education, consequently knows more about ADHD. A study [33] conducted in the United States, which aimed to investigate preschool teachers' past educational practices and their knowledge and understanding of ADHD, revealed that those teachers that obtained higher levels of academic training, such as a university education, performed on a superior level and obtained higher scores on the administered questionnaire than those teachers that only obtained a high school level of education.…”

Supporting professional development needs for early childhood teachers: an exploratory analysis of teacher perceptions of stress and challenging behavior

“…However, research has also clearly documented that teachers in early childhood have reported they have knowledge of specific areas (i.e. ADHD) when assessments of their knowledge indicate otherwise [3]. Inservice opportunities should include pretests to help teachers become aware of misinformation and lack of information on specific topics.…”

“…However, teachers of young children often have diverse educational backgrounds and experiences in teaching and working with young children (e.g. [3]). Furthermore, many teachers of young children have not been formally educated, which requires that they learn on the job and need training in different areas to learn how to support their classes.…”