The Role of Teacher Efficacy in Strengthening Classroom Support for Preschool Children with Disabilities Who Exhibit Challenging Behaviors

Abstract

Challenging student behaviors are a prominent factor in the development of teacher stress and burnout. When classroom-based teachers of preschool children with disabilities were surveyed to identify their training needs in one North Carolina county, the most frequent request was how to address behavior challenges of preschool children with disabilities. This study examined how instructional support to teachers of preschool children with disabilities and challenging behaviors affected three teachers' classroom practices. The teachers received training and mentoring in classroom behavior management strategies and engaged in an online community of learners discussion group. Interviews and interactions from an online learning community were used to disclose whether the participants had implemented effective intervention strategies in their classrooms following the training. Teachers felt more competent in managing challenging behaviors after the online interaction with their colleagues. Teachers' online interactions were a highly effective way to impact teacher efficacy. Therefore, special education preschool programs should consider providing more opportunities for the teachers to build their own learning communities to interact and support one another.Keywords Preschool Á Special needs Á Challenging behavior Á Community of learners Challenging student behaviors are a prominent factor in the development of teacher stress and burnout. Stressed teachers were found to spend more than 20% of time in negative interactions and only 5% of time in positive interactions with children who had challenging behaviors, thus contributing to the ongoing cycle of ensuing challenging behaviors (Alvarez 2007;Stormont 2002). Data from the National Prekindergarten Study during the 2003 and 2004 school year indicated that 10.4% of state-funded prekindergarten teachers across the nation expelled at least one preschooler from their program. This rate was 3.2 times higher than the rate for kindergarten through twelfthgrade children. Expulsion is the most severe disciplinary action that can be given because it means that the child can never return to that school. Not unexpectedly, teacher stress was related to higher rates of expulsion even when class size and child age were controlled (Gilliam 2005).When classroom-based teachers of preschool children with disabilities were surveyed to identify their training needs in one North Carolina county, the most frequent request was how to address behavior challenges of preschool children with disabilities. The need for similar training regarding working with children that exhibit behavior challenges has been recognized in the field of early childhood. Teachers view children with behavior problems as more challenging to work with than children with any type of disability (Alvarez 2007). Several issues related to addressing the challenging behaviors of preschoolers in a classroom setting include not only teacher training, but also teacher perceptions, teacher stress and support (Alvarez 2007;Gilliam 2...

Exploring links between early childhood educators’ psychological characteristics and classroom management self-efficacy beliefs.

“…In samples of elementary school teachers, the efficacy for classroom management subscale has previously demonstrated strong scale score reliability and evidence of validity (e.g., Klassen & Chiu, 2010;Putman, 2012;Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001. In its previous usage with ECEs, the efficacy for classroom management scale also demonstrated high internal consistency (Brown, 2005;Gibbs & Powell, 2012).…”

“…Moreover, even fewer studies have examined teacher selfefficacy for classroom management among ECEs (e.g., Gibbs & Powell, 2012;Kotaman, 2010). For example, using a qualitative approach, Gebbie, Ceglowski, Taylor, and Miels (2012) found that ECEs' classroom management self-efficacy increased with specialized training focused on classroom management strategies and interacting with other teachers in a supportive manner.…”

“…To date, relatively little is known about the construct of classroom management self-efficacy beliefs among ECEs (Gibbs & Powell, 2012). Previous research pertaining to efficacy for classroom management has been conducted almost exclusively among elementary school teachers (for a recent review see Klassen, Tze, Betts, & Gordon, 2011).…”

Preschool teachers’ beliefs about their own competence in working with preschool children who show emotional and behavioral difficulties

“…This in turn brings us to the question about preschool teachers' competences for working with children who show BED. As Gebbie et al (2012) say, the efficacy of applied approaches to working with children who point to BED depends on the qualification of the preschool teachers themselves. Part of this qualification, in turn, includes their belief in their own efficacy, that is, how they perceive their competence in positively influencing a child's behaviour (Gebbie et al, 2012).…”

“…The knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes of preschool teachers also affect their sensitivity to various kinds of children's needs (including the needs of children with BED), how they will respond to them, and whether they select an appropriate approach. As already mentioned, teachers' beliefs about their own competence and efficacy, or about how they positively affect a child's behaviour, is also an important part of the preschool teacher's subjective theories (Gebbie et al, 2012), so below we describe this concept in greater detail.…”