Vocational teachers’ perceptions of transition components and relevance of curriculum to employment for students with disabilities

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Employment is one important post-school outcome for youth and adults and its benefits include enjoying a productive life, enhanced self-worth, and economic independence. Although Botswana has made notable strides to enhance post-school outcomes for students with disabilities (SWDs), many of these youth continue to face underemployment and unemployment. Hence, this study used a quantitative research approach to examine vocational teachers’ perceptions of necessary transition components and the relevance of the curriculum in helping SWDs to transition to employment successfully. Participants were selected through census and purposive sampling from two regions in Botswana and their gender and teaching experience differences were further examined. A total of 158 participants completed a paper survey. A Factorial ANOVA was run to determine significant differences in participants’ perceptions of essential transition components and the relevance of vocational coursework in supporting SWDs to transition successfully to employment. A Tukey post hoc test was run to establish differences between groups. Participants held somewhat positive beliefs about transition components and vocational coursework. However, participants’ views were inconsistent based on gender and teaching experience. This diversity of views clearly shows the extent to which vocational teachers differ regarding transition planning, which may hinder the effective delivery of transition services.