A Comparison of Attitudes of Teachers towards Students who Stutter in Selected Primary Schools and Colleges in Zambia

Abstract

Purpose: To establish whether there are differences in attitude of regular education teachers, special education teachers, regular student teachers, and special education student teachers toward stuttering and students who stutter (SWS) in some selected primary schools and colleges of education in the Copperbelt, Luapula, Lusaka, and Muchinga provinces of Zambia. It also sought to determine whether attitudes of teachers differed based on gender, geographic location or educational level. Method: The survey had a random sample of 324 participants who completed the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes – Stuttering (POSHA-S) questionnaire. Nonparametric analyses were employed to determine any significant differences among the four groups of teachers surveyed. Findings: Significant differences in attitude toward stuttering and SWS were noted between practicing teachers and student teachers (N = 133 < 191, Mdn = 95.0 < 96.0), U = 9663.500, p = .000., and between special education teachers and regular education teachers (N = 62 < 71, Mdn = 95.0 > 97.0), U = 1526.000, p =.002. However, no significant differences were observed in attitude of teachers based on gender and geographic location except for educational level. Conclusions: Special education teachers have a comparatively positive attitude towards stuttering and SWS than ordinary, mainstream teachers. This is possibly because of the nature of their training and experience of working with learners with special education needs. The implication of this finding is the need to examine training programs for teacher education in order to determine how much content on stuttering student teachers are exposed to. This could, in turn, positively impact the preparedness of teachers to address needs of SWS.