SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS' ATTRIBUTIONS AND THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THEM, PRE AND POST COMPLETION OF A GRADUATE QUALIFICATION IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

Aims:The study aimed to explore the factors that predict Irish special education teachers' attributions towards students with and without special educational needs (SEN).Predictive variables included teachers' role, length of SEN experience, graduate training status, teacher efficacy and attitudes toward people with disabilities.The relationship between teachers' roles (primary, post-primary, and special school) and their attributions towards students with and without SEN was also examined.Finally, a pre-post comparison group correlation was employed to examine if there were differences in special education teachers' efficacy for inclusive practice, attitudes towards people with a disability and attributions towards students with and without SEN, pre-and post-completion of a postgraduate qualification in SEN.Method: Special education teachers (SETs) enrolled in a Graduate Diploma (Grad Dip) in SEN completed the Teacher Attribution Scale (TAS), the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice (TEIP) Scale, and the Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale at the commencement of the programme (Time 1; N = 80) and upon its completion (Time 2; N = 35).SETs without a postgraduate qualification (Non-Grad Dip) also completed these questionnaires at Time 1 (N = 17) and Time 2 (N = 11).Results: Hierarchical regression analyses found that teacher role and teacher efficacy for inclusive practice predicted stability attributions for students with identified needs.Mixed factorial ANOVAs were conducted to further examine the effect of teachers' role.It was found that primary school SETs tended to report greater stability attributions in comparison to post-primary SETs and special school teachers.Using mixed factorial ANOVAs to compare Grad Dip and Non-Grad Dip teachers' attributions, efficacy for inclusive practice and attitudes at Time 1 and Time 2, it was found that aside from Grad Dip teachers having lower efficacy for inclusive instruction compared to Non-Grad Dip teacher, neither presentation of SEN, time, nor completion of a Grad Dip SEN or not, influenced teachers' efficacy for inclusive instruction, attitudes towards people with disabilities or attributions in any of the three domains.Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of addressing teachers' roles and efficacy in inclusive education, particularly in managing stability attributions.They also highlight the need to explore the impact of postgraduate programmes in inclusive education on teachers' attitudes and beliefs.