Teaching Children Research Articles

The Relationship among Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Student Motivation and Effective Teaching

Teaching children of poor and disadvantaged ethnic communities is always considered a tough job. This study was conducted to ascertain teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about motivating students studying in elementary schools run by an NGO in various districts of Punjab. It was assumed that ethnicity and marginalization influence self-efficacy beliefs, self-motivation, and, ultimately, professional commitment. This assumption was verified by this quantitative study using the survey method. The data was collected through a multistage sampling technique from 400 teachers working in schools for ethnic and poor communities in 8 districts of Punjab. The results show a significant relationship among teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy to motivate students, capacity for self-motivation, and professional commitmentfor effective teaching. A strong positive correlation was found among teachers' self-efficacy beliefs to apply effective teaching strategies to enhance motivation among students. Therefore, school management must focus on the intrinsic motivation of teachers so that they can self-motivate themselves for effective teaching.

The Relationship among Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Student Motivation and Effective Teaching

Teaching children of poor and disadvantaged ethnic communities is always considered a tough job. This study was conducted to ascertain teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about motivating students studying in elementary schools run by an NGO in various districts of Punjab. It was assumed that ethnicity and marginalization influence self-efficacy beliefs, self-motivation, and, ultimately, professional commitment. This assumption was verified by this quantitative study using the survey method. The data was collected through a multistage sampling technique from 400 teachers working in schools for ethnic and poor communities in 8 districts of Punjab. The results show a significant relationship among teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy to motivate students, capacity for self-motivation, and professional commitmentfor effective teaching. A strong positive correlation was found among teachers' self-efficacy beliefs to apply effective teaching strategies to enhance motivation among students. Therefore, school management must focus on the intrinsic motivation of teachers so that they can self-motivate themselves for effective teaching.

Childhood Trichotillomania: A Case and a Review of the Available Evidence-Based Pharmacologic Therapies.

1. Abstract Background: Trichotillomania is a self-induced psychocutaneous dermatosis that is considered an impulse control disorder associated with obsessive-compulsive features. The disorder is characterized alopecia caused by repetitive pulling of own hair which cause irregular shape areas, partially devoid of hair. Treatment of the condition is generally unsatisfactory, because the condition is commonly resistant to treatment and relapse is common. Patients and methods: The case of girl with persistent alopecia of several months despite several treatments by several dermatologists was studied. The available evidence-based pharmacologic therapies that can be useful for the child’s condition was reviewed. Results: A thirteen-year old girl was referred to pediatric psychiatry clinic at the Children Teaching Hospital of Baghdad Medical City because of persistent alopecia of several months despite several treatments by several dermatologists. The parents didn’t give clues to any a psychosocial stress in the family. Although the parents were finding at several occasions tufts of hair in the bed of girl when awakening her at the morning, they were surprised to learn that her condition is self-induced. The girl was rather shy and denied pulling her hair. Examination of her scalp showed irregular shape areas, partially devoid of hair suggesting trichotillomania. The patient was not from Baghdad and there was no pediatric psychiatry service in the province where she came from. It was not possible to the girl a cognitive behavioral therapy in a busy tertiary center, nor was this convenient to her family. The need for a pharmacologic therapy was clearly demanded. Review of the available research evidence suggests that monotherapy of trichotillomania is not consistently effective and combination of therapies is more likely to be successful. Conclusion: Trichotillomania remains a challenging psychiatric condition with no first- line medications universally approved. The available evidence suggests that monotherapy of trichotillomania is not consistently effective and combination of therapies is more likely to be successful. The combination of a safer antidepressant, clomipramine with a safer neuroleptic, risperidone with or without the addition of N-acetylcysteine represents the current evidence-based recommendation for the pharmacologic treatment of childhood trichotillomania.

Skill-less Tricks: A score for moving through walls

In the current context of restricted movement due to COVID-19, I have found myself reflecting upon my connection to friends and collaborators in Palestine. This article proposes my use of a performance score - ‘Skill-less Tricks’ - as a method of cultivating an ongoing connection with those friends and collaborators. As many western nation states have spent much of the last year policing their borders in ways anathema to the freedom of movement expected by global tourism, my time and relationships in Palestine have been brought into sharp relief. This article begins with a discussion of my connection to Palestine and how I came to be regularly working with communities in the West Bank. It explains the personal and political impulse for crossing the wall between Israel and Palestine, and the bodily experience of ‘what it takes to cross a border’ (Noeth 2019). The main reason for my ongoing work in Palestine is due to working with the SkatePal charity in the West Bank who build skateparks and teach children to skateboard. This article reflects on the role SkatePal take within this specific political context. The history and current context of the Palestine/Israel conflict have been well documented in numerous sources including Elizabeth Matthews’s edited collection with David Newman and Mohammed Dajani Daoudi (2011). This source presents a range of viewpoints on central aspects of the conflict from sixteen contributors and offers a balanced introduction. Instead of repeating work that has been done elsewhere, this article reflects on aspects of the current state of the conflict from my own personal perspective captured in journal entries, which are scattered throughout the main body of the text. This selection of journal entries is - more or less - as they were written during the three weeks I spent with SkatePal in the summer of 2015. I have selected material from my journal that is most directly associated with experiences of the wall, of crossing checkpoints and borders and about expressive movement practice. The decision I made to journal my experience was inspired by reflective practice in performance and dance broadly as a research method, and by anthropologist Michael Taussig’s own reflections and experience of Palestine in his article, ‘Two weeks in Palestine’ (2013). Finally, the article discusses the creation of my score, Skill-less Tricks - its origination as part of my Ph.D. research, its adaptation for this new use, its translation from English into Arabic and my intentions for using this as the basis for the continuation of an informal remote exchange. © 2020 Intellect Ltd Article.

A Comprehensive Review of Embracing the Normality of Rape Culture: Time to Put a Stop to Victim Blaming

Abstract Gender discrimination against women is a prevalent issue in Bangladesh, but sometimes it is concealed. Rape cases, also known as ―sexual abuse‖ in many cultures, are a special insidious type of sexual harassment. In other contexts, when you are familiarizing with the lifestyle of women, as a social worker it is likely to see victims of sexual abuse due to a large number of abusive offenders. Global WHO figures suggest that about 1 in 3 (35%) of women around the world endure physical and sexually intimate relationships or non-partner sexual abuse during their lives. Domestic abuse is the most heinous form of violence. Approximately one third (30%) of all women who have a relationship comment on physical and sexual harassment witnessed by their intimate partner nationwide. This review investigates several peer-reviewed journals and articles that have been developed for the comprehensive understanding of domestic abuse as rape. Still, this issue of rape must be addressed within and outside the scope of domestic violence. More experiments are conducted with a focus for future studies. The major argument of this review is that while raped women are suffering from the permanent effects of psychological and emotional damage, the issue of rape is not the problem of women. It is squarely a man’s problem. As a society, victim allegation is preached as a flame, but the issue is with ancestors and older generations’ minds and opinions. On a conclusive note, strategies for rape prevention have been discussed. It is crucial to recognize and increasingly teach young children about the effects of sexual harassment and how traditions can be changed to avoid social stigma. Keywords: rape victims, sexual assault, social work, victim-blaming, prevention

Do social adaptations increase earthquake resilience?

Grandparents in earthquake-prone Chile teach children to identify load-bearing walls, and the Philippines has developed an internationally respected disaster management system. Do such low-cost, social adaptations increase community resilience to earthquakes, or are poorer countries forever doomed to large death tolls in small earthquakes? We attempt to answer this question by quantifying the vulnerability of exposed populations to a set of earthquakes recorded in the USGS PAGER system. We first remove the effect of strong shaking by statistically modelling published mortality, shaking intensity and population exposure data; unexplained variance from this purely physical model is dominated by, and its systematics therefore illuminate, the contribution of socio-economic factors to increasing earthquake mortality. We find that this variance partitions countries in terms of basic socio-economic measures and allows the definition of an Earthquake Vulnerability Index, which identifies both anomalously resilient and anomalously vulnerable countries. Unsurprisingly, wealthy countries perform well, while in general poor countries are more vulnerable. However some low-GDP countries rival even the richest in their ability to resist shaking, suggesting that social and political will can increase resilience. Until expensive engineering solutions become more universally available, the objective targeting of resources at relatively low-cost interventions might help reverse the trend of increasing mortality in earthquakes.

The Effect of Make a Match Learning Models and Cognitive Ability to Recognize the Concept of Number

This study aims to investigate: (1) the difference of ability to recognize the concept of numbers between children taught by Make a Match learning model based on creativity and children taught by Make a Match learning model; (2) the difference of ability to recognize the concept of numbers between children who have high cognitive abilities and low cognitive abilities, and (3) the interaction between Make a Match learning model with children's cognitive abilities on the ability to recognize concepts. The sample in this study is 28 children in class B1 for the experimental class who are taught by Make a Match based on creativity and for the control class, class B2 consisted of 28 children who were taught by Make a Match. They are 5-6 years old children at Raudhatul Athfal Mutiara Bunda Banda Aceh. The results show that: (1) The ability of children who taught by Make a Match learning model based on creativity is 44.96, it is higher than children who taught by Make A Match learning, it is 34.64, (2) The ability to recognize the number concept of children who have high cognitive abilities obtained an average value of = 46.89, while children who have low cognitive abilities obtained an average value of = 33.21, and (3) The results show that there was no significant interaction between the use of learning and children's cognitive abilities (high and low) in influencing the ability to recognize the concept of numbers.

AR-TO-KID: A speech-enabled augmented reality to engage preschool children in pronunciation learning

AR-TO-KID is an application produced for preschool children between ages five to six years old with an Augmented Reality (AR) application. The significant purpose of AR-TO-KID is to improve the pronunciation of the children in English. Hence, this paper discusses an AR application with speech input. The detection of the children speech input when they need to pronounce the words correctly, and they need to have critical thinking to identify the environment suit with the 3D objects that they will utter the word. Educational technology should be interactive and attractive for 5 to 6 years old preschool children learning; however, some at preschool teachers still used the conventional methods in teaching and children are not fully engaged with the method. Therefore, this project is to design and develop an interactive AR tool called AR-TO-KID for preschool children in pronunciation learning and teaching. This paper presents the evaluation and testing for preschool children with non-native English speaking. The article ends with results and discussion.

Caminhos para a leitura literária em língua francesa na educação infantil

Nestas reflexões, apontamos a literatura endereçada às crianças e aos jovens leitores, produzida em língua francesa e originária de países africanos, como um potencial caminho na aprendizagem de uma língua estrangeira, a exemplo do francês. Tal proposta está também ancorada na Lei Federal 10.639/03, que orienta quanto ao ensino da cultura africana e afro-brasileira, o que, sob o nosso prisma, é uma abertura especial para se formarem leitores mais tolerantes em relação ao outro. Expomos argumentos que dão suporte às discussões sobre o ensino de uma língua estrangeira na infância (GAONAC’H, 2006; VANTHIER, 2009) e também sobre a abordagem da literatura na escola (POSLANIEC, 2000; CHELEBOURG; MARCOIN, 2007; REYES, 2010), pelas trilhas da língua alvo, ressaltando-se o quanto é indispensável ler e aprender desde cedo. Legitimando essas discussões, apresentamos dados de pesquisa que recensearam obras literárias infantojuvenis de países africanos de língua francesa, colocando em destaque a produção feminina e a importância de se apresentarem aos jovens leitores vieses para uma visão não sexista (ADICHIE, 2017) a partir da leitura das obras literárias.

Inhibitory Control Deficits in Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder Compared to Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Inhibitory control deficits are known to be characteristic of Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Conduct Disorder (CD), and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); but it is unclear whether children with ODD/CD have inhibitory control problems independent of ADHD comorbidity. Previous reviews of inhibitory control and ODD/CD have only focused on one type of measure of inhibitory control or used non-clinical samples. The current meta-analysis explored inhibitory control problems of children with ODD/CD by systematically reviewing studies where children have a diagnosis of ODD and/or CD. Comparisons were made across 25 studies between children with ODD/CD, ODD/CD + ADHD, ADHD, and healthy controls (HC) on various measures of inhibitory control and ADHD symptomatology to explore impacts of ADHD comorbidity. A small significant effect (g = -0.58, p < .001) suggested children with ODD/CD are likely to have more difficulties with inhibitory control than healthy children. However, comparisons between clinical groups suggested this effect may be due to ADHD symptomatology present in each group. As difficulties with inhibitory control are similar, across clinical groups, a dimensional approach to understanding ODD/CD and ADHD may be more useful to consider in future diagnostic criteria. Similarities across clinical groups highlight that therapeutic approaches that assist children with disruptive behaviours could benefit from teaching children and their families how to cope with inhibitory control deficits.

“Kind of interrupting”: teachers of young children understanding mathematics learning and linguistic diversity

This article examines the shared experiences and understandings teachers draw on to teach children with an awareness of linguistic diversity. To do so, we analyzed interviews from Turkey and the United States and drew on philosophical hermeneutics as a way to develop a disruptive understanding of teachers’ views regarding the role of languages in mathematics learning. We pose that teachers’ perspectives about languages and children’s ability to learn are challenged when there is an interruption, an event that fails to reflect the normative linguistic practices of hegemonic groups. We found teachers’ understandings fluctuate as part of an organic sense-making process of events in their classrooms, portraying perspectives such as multilingual students’ ability to learn, assumptions which limit expectations for children’s learning, the ability of mathematics to be experienced as its own mode of communication, as well as a willingness to effectively teach children.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ВИПРАВЛЕННЯ ТА ФОРМУВАННЯ КУЛЬТУРИ ПОВЕДІНКИ УЧНІВ ПОЧАТКОВИХ КЛАСІВ

The article determines the urgency of the problem in modern society and the tasks that need to be solved quickly and effectively. There is considered the essence of the concept of "culture of behavior and there is described the main ways of its interpretation. There also is explained connection between the culture of behavior and the moral education of primary school. Teachers, philosophers and psychologists who also studied this problem are mentioned. There are given examples of reasons in violation of the culture of children of primary school age behavior. It is determined that children's behavior can be appeared through stubbornness, anger, self-suggestion, lying, fear, etc. There is determined the educational impact of parents, family, teachers, media, movies, cartoons, fiction and the environment on children and their behavior. The article describes who has the greatest educational role in formation the culture of children's behavior. It is determined that the formation of correct behavior in primary school applicants should be comprehensive, structural and defined for those who should participate in this process. In order to correct and form the correct culture of primary school student’s behavior, the article considers the following general methods of education: methods of forming social consciousness, methods of forming the experience of social behavior, methods of encouragement and punishment. The article conducts the analysis of these methods concerning education, correction and formation of culture of behavior of pupils of initial classes, their expedience and effectiveness. There is also an explanation of the correct use of methods such as conversation, example, dispute, exercise, assignment, demand, encouragement and punishment. The article explains how methods of educational influence teach and influence children of primary school age and what results to expect after the application of these methods. It describes the phased application of these methods in diagnostic research and its results. It provides recommendations for primary school teachers and parents on the education of students' cultural behavior, based on the results obtained in the research process. It outlines communication skills, that teachers need to have in order to get positive results in formation the right culture of primary school student’s.

Childhood Seeligmüller Strümpell Philip Disease: The First Case in Iraq and a Review of the Early Historic Documentation of the Disease in the Literature

Seeligmüller Strümpell Philip disease is characterized by familial progressive spastic paraplegia or paraparesis associated with a progressive deterioration of gait. The disorder is genetically heterogeneous and can be inherited in an autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive or X-linked recessive manner. The mode of inheritance involved has a direct impact on the chances of inheriting the disorder. The cornerstone of treatment is the use of various muscle relaxants. The disorder has not been reported or documented in Iraq. This paper aims to report the first case of childhood Seeligmüller Strümpell Philip disease in an Iraqi girl. Patients and Methods: A thirteen-year girl with childhood Seeligmüller Strümpell Philip disease who developed systemic lupus erythematosus is described and the early historic documentation of Seeligmüller Strümpell Philip disease in the medical literature is briefly updated. Results: The diagnosis of Seeligmüller Strümpell Philip disease in this girl was based on clinical findings and supported by electromyography and nerve conduction studies. Brain MRI showed normal findings. Few weeks before the patient was seen, they took her outside Iraq to Medipol Mega complex of Hospitals for treatment. They performed tenotomy and tenoplasty of the hip adductors, achilloplasty, and posterior capsule relaxation. When the girl was first seen at the Children Teaching Hospital of Baghdad Medical City, the parents regretted taking her outside Iraq for treatment as she didn’t show any improvement, and was still using the wheelchair. Conclusion: Unfortunately, the girl was seen too late, and despite consulting many doctors in Iraq and outside Iraq, she didn’t receive appropriate evidence based treatment and was treated unsatisfactorily surgically.

The Student’s Perception on Lecturer’s Teaching from Teaching Children with Diverse Ability Class Questionnaire

One of the most important elements to build in a university is the lecturer. This research aims to find out the student’s perception in the implementation of course design in the classroom, lecturer performance and given assignments in response to high standard of teaching and learning in the higher education. This research used a survey research. The researcher decides to take Primary Study Program Department as a representative of population in University XYZ. Reliability and validity instrument been analyzed by looking at the item analysis, internal reliability (cronbach alpha), and descriptive statistics. The researcher found the strength in the consistency of learning material with learning contract, new insight of teaching, the use of language that the lecturer used, on time given feedback distribution, material review, the source of theory has been attached in the power point slide, time discipline, well done group work, the compatibility between the assignment and learning contract, given test that enrich student’s critical thinking and direct observation has given positive contribution towards the theory.

Basic survey on children and teachers in special classes for children with low vision in Japan

Through a questionnaire survey of teachers of special classes for children with low vision in Japan’s primary and lower secondary schools, this study aims to clarify the basic data of children in these classes, the realities of their learning situations, and the realities of the instruction they receive from their teachers. A special class for children with low vision is a class specially organised in primary and lower secondary schools to deliver an education that is appropriate to children with low vision. Basic data items for children covered grade, sex, and visual acuity and also the written characters, low-vision devices, and textbooks that they use in their studies. The survey also elicited responses about the information and communication technology (ICT) devices that teachers use in their teaching, their number of years’ teaching experience, their number of years’ experience teaching children who are visually impaired, and the content or topic of training that they desire to improve their specialisation in the education of children who are visually impaired. In addition to obtaining statistics on basic items related to children’s sex and visual acuity, the results revealed change in children’s actual situations over the years through comparison with the results of previous studies. Specifically, the percentage of children with visual acuity under 20/66 increased, and the usage rate of braille decreased. We also learned that while usage rates of enlarged textbooks and ICT devices are increasing, the rate of using low-vision devices is decreasing. In addition, it was revealed that a majority of teachers had less than 3 years’ experience in education for children who are visually impaired, regardless of general teaching experience, and that there is a considerable need for training in basic knowledge.

Development and preliminary testing of a technology-enhanced intervention to improve energy intake regulation in children

Interventions designed to improve children's self-regulation of energy intake have yielded mixed results. We tested the efficacy of a technology-enhanced intervention designed to teach children to eat in response to internal hunger and fullness cues. Thirty-two children (mean age 4.9 ± 0.8 y) completed this within-subjects, pre-post design study that took place across 10 laboratory sessions, each scheduled approximately 1 week apart. The intervention was conducted across weeks 4–7 in small groups focused on teaching children how food travels through the body and how to respond to hunger and fullness signals. Children's short-term energy compensation, a measure of intake regulation, was collected at baseline and follow-up using a preloading protocol. Twenty-five minutes prior to receiving a standardized test meal, children consumed a low-energy (3 kcal) or high-energy (150 kcal) preload beverage, presented in random order at baseline and follow-up. Knowledge of intervention concepts was also assessed at baseline and follow-up. Linear mixed models were used to examine changes in short-term energy compensation and knowledge from baseline to follow-up. Knowledge related to the intervention improved from baseline to follow-up (3.5 ± 0.3 to 7.0 ± 0.3 correct responses out of a possible 10; P < 0.001). Children's energy compensation also improved from baseline to follow-up, as evidenced by a time-by-preload condition interaction (P = 0.02). However, this improvement was driven by boys who increased the adjustment for beverage energy content from baseline to follow-up (P = 0.04). Girls showed no change in energy compensation with the intervention (P = 0.58). The overall increase in knowledge, paired with the improvement in energy compensation in boys, suggests that this technology-enhanced intervention may be efficacious for some children. Further research is needed to determine whether boys and girls will benefit from different, personalized intervention strategies for obesity prevention.

Modernization of Education Programs and Formation of Digital Competences of Future Primary School Teachers

Modernization of education programs is carried out through the digital technologies integration into the education system, in particular, into the primary education system. This leads to the integration of courses and disciplines into curricula for the development of digital competences of future primary school teachers. The purpose of the investigation was to study the features of modernization of education programs in order to form digital competences of future primary school teachers. 48 scientific publications have been examined, studied and systematized, where the integration of disciplines for the study of digital competences into the educational process of teaching future teachers is considered; consequently, three dimensions of modernization of curricula have been investigated. The first one concerns the development of general digital competences, the second one - the competence to integrate technology into educational practice, the third one - professional digital competence. It has been revealed that general digital competences are consistent with the context of the education system. Competence to integrate technologies into teaching practice focuses on the context of integration, preparing future teachers for the opportunity to use technology in future teaching of pupils, critically assess the use and teach children, using digital devices in education process. The academic paper proposes the concept of professional digital competence as the ability of a teacher to work in the context of a school education system with a digital form of education, including the process of teaching, managing digital learning environments and professional activities of a teacher. Further research should additionally explore professional digital competence in the framework of primary teacher education.

Innovative approaches to formation of practical skills in medical students during teaching the basics of child pulmonology

The training of future doctors in the conditions of reforming the Health Care in Ukraine requires the introduction of new methods, information and communication technologies, modern pedagogical and scientific innovations in accordance with world standards in the educational process. The purpose of the work was to improve the educational process on the Department of Propedeutics of pediatric diseases while teaching the students the basics of pediatric pulmonology. The article describes the stages of conducting practical classes, describes the method of forming practical skills in students during teaching children's pulmonology. In order to improve the practical training of students at the department, simulation methods are actively used, which allow to master the technique of auscultation in children, to differentiate acoustic phenomena in different pathological conditions. During the curation, future doctors will consolidate practical skills in the examination of the patient, summarize the data obtained. Digital respiratory sonography allows us to analyze whether the findings of the research students on the acoustic picture, obtained while listening to the lungs with stethoscopes, coincide with the results of a computer analysis of pulmonary sounds. As the results show, students' acquisition of practical skills on virtual simulators contributes to a more successful mastering of methods of physical examination of the patient, correct assessment of a particular clinical situation. Combining traditional teaching methods with innovative methods contributes to improving the quality of students' education and training of a new generation of highly skilled health care workers. Bringing to the international standards the educational and methodological support of the educational process, on the one hand, will reduce the outflow of young people, who want to study outside Ukraine, on the other hand – will allow to attract foreign students to Ukrainian medical universitets, which can become an additional source of state income in the form of tuition fees, and also contribute to the inflow of labor into domestic medicine

DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-CONCEPT OF PRIMARY SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN WITH CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES

The article raises the question of the development of self-concept of primary school children having cardiovascular diseases. The theoretical approaches of national and foreign scientists studying self-concept are reviewed, factors affecting its formation at primary school age are considered. Special attention is paid to influence of comprehensive school with medical care provision teaching children having cardiovascular diseases. We indicate that the primary school age is one of most important periods for self-concept development and formation, since schoolchildren develop and expand the sphere of their Self. First of all, the position of "I" in relation to society is formed, mental methods are formed (thinking, the ability to analyze, generalize, compare are developed), and certain personal properties are also formed. The psychological characteristics of children with congenital cardiovascular diseases, if they are not accompanied by secondary diseases, do not differ from the psychological characteristics of healthy primary school age children, however, the performed empirical study showed differences for such indicators of the self-concept as Self-real, Self-ideal, self-esteem and its differentiation. This result can be associated with favorable conditions for children’s education at comprehensive school with medical care provision. After the interpretation of the used research methods, we have concluded that primary school age children with cardiovascular diseases studied in comprehensive school with medical care provision, in comparison with healthy children of the same age, have adequate self-esteem of an average level, but healthy children usually have increased self-esteem. Children with cardiovascular diseases have normal, adequate self-esteem and adequate self-concept, but slightly increased anxiety. Research results can be used in work with children having cardiovascular disease and by practical psychologists working with primary school age children. &nbsp

Self-reported competency, knowledge and practices of teachers teaching primary children with autism in government schools of West Malaysia: a cross-sectional study

Background: Disability brings challenges and demands in the family and society which last for a long time. Children that are affected by disability are often kept at home, without access to opportunities other children might have, and education is one of the most effective ways to break the cycle of discrimination and poverty. Malaysia is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and teacher quality issues are among the Ministry of Education's focuses to ensure a successful journey for pupils with disabilities. In this study, we evaluated the competency, knowledge and implementation practices of teachers serving government schools in West Malaysia regarding teaching children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: 832 primary teachers from different states of West Malaysia participated in a web-based survey that assessed self-reported competency, knowledge and implementation practices with regards to managing children with autism spectrum disorder. Results: Respondents rated themselves as quite competent, and believed that they were knowledgeable regarding ASD and could implement ASD tasks. Frequency of training was a consistent predictor of competency. Respondents who had never attended a training course had significantly lower self-competency, lower level of knowledge, and lower implementation ratings than those who had attended even one course. Conclusions: Investments in training teachers on ASD are highly recommended to ensure these students are provided with quality of education they deserve.