Abstract
Despite strong support for inclusive education in principle, many teachers and administrators still demonstrate mixed responses to the inclusion of certain students in their classrooms. Students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) form a large group of students in inclusive classrooms yet some provincial, state and national jurisdictions fail to acknowledge the existence of these students. Not acknowledging and understanding these students can deny them the recognition and resources necessary for their genuine participation in education and, in turn, society. The aim of this study was to examine British in-service secondary teachers’ attributional responses to students with and without specific learning difficulties. The participants included 122 British secondary school teachers who were surveyed in response to vignettes of hypothetical male students who had failed a class test. The study found that while teachers attributed more positive causes towards students without SpLD, they exhibited more negative causes towards students with SpLD. Teachers’ causal attributional outcomes of students’ level of achievement can impact upon the students’ own attributions, with teachers’ responses for students with SpLD having the potential to, unintentionally, influence students’ own sense of self-efficacy and motivation. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implications of the research and recommendations for practice.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ainscow, M., Booth, T., & Dyson, A. (2006). Improving schools, developing inclusion. Abingdon: Routledge.
Avramidis, E., & Norwich, B. (2002). Teachers’ attitudes towards integration/inclusion: a review of the literature. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 17(2), 129–147.
Booth, T., & Ainscow, M. (2002). Index for inclusion: developing learning and participation in schools. Bristol: Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education.
Boyle, C., Topping, K., & Jindal-Snape, D. (2013). Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion in high schools. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 19(5), 527–542.
Brady, K., & Woolfson, L. (2008). What teacher factors influence their attributions for children’s difficulties in learning? British Journal of Educational Psychology, 78(4), 527–544.
British Dyslexia Association. (2016). Dyslexia and specific learning difficulties in adults. British Dyslexia Association. www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/dyslexia/dyslexia-and-specific-learning-difficulties-in-adults. Accessed 30 June 2016.
Clark, M. D. (1997). Teacher response to learning disability: a test of attributional principles. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30(1), 69–79.
Clark, M. D., & Artiles, A. J. (2000). A cross-national study of teachers’ attributional patterns. The Journal of Special Education, 34(2), 77–89.
De Vroey, A., Struyf, E., & Petry, K. (2016). Secondary schools included: a literature review. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 20(2), 109–135.
DfE. (2016). School workforce in England: November 2015. Department for Education. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2015. Accessed 19 July 2016.
DfE & DoH. (2015). Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years. England: The Department for Education and the Department of Health.
DfES. (2001). Special educational needs (SEN): Code of practice. England: The Department for Education and Skills.
Gaier, S. E. (2015). Understanding why students do what they do: using attribution theory to help students succeed academically. Research & Teaching in Developmental Education, 31(2), 6–19.
Georgiou, S. N., Christou, C., Stavrinides, P., & Panaoura, G. (2002). Teacher attributions of student failure and teacher behaviour toward the failing student. Psychology in the Schools, 39(5), 583–595.
Glazzard, J. (2014). From integration to inclusive education in England: illuminating the issues through a life history account. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 9(1), 107–116.
Hardy, I., & Woodcock, S. (2014). Contesting the recognition of specific learning disabilities in educational policy: intra- and inter-national insights. International Journal of Educational Research, 66, 113–124.
Hardy, I., & Woodcock, S. (2015). Inclusive education policies: discourses of difference, diversity and deficit. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 19(2), 141–164.
Hornstra, L., Denessen, E., Bakker, J., van de Bergh, L., & Voeten, M. (2010). Teacher attitudes toward dyslexia: effects on teacher expectations and the academic achievement of students with dyslexia. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 43(6), 515–529.
Jacobsen, B., Lowery, B., & DuCette, J. (1986). Attributions of learning disabled children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 78(1), 59–64.
Klehm, M. (2014). The effects of teacher beliefs on teaching practices and achievement of students with disabilities. Teacher Education and Special Education, 37(3), 216–240.
Paterson, D. (2007). Teachers’ in-flight thinking in inclusive classrooms. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 40(5), 427–435.
Reyna, C., & Weiner, B. (2001). Justice and utility in the classroom: an attributional analysis of the goals of teachers’ punishment and intervention strategies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(2), 309–319.
Richardson, J. (2011). Eta squared and partial eta squared as measures of effect size in educational research. Educational Research Review, 6(2), 135–147.
Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Scanlon, D. (2013). Specific learning disability and its newest definition: which is comprehensive? And which is insufficient. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 46(1), 26–33.
Shifrer, D. (2013). Stigma of a label: educational expectations for high school students labelled with learning disabilities. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 54(4), 462–480.
Shifrer, D. (2016). Stigma and stratification limiting the math course progression of adolescents labelled with a learning disability. Learning and Instruction, 42(1), 47–57.
Siegel, J., & Shaughnessy, M. F. (1996). An interview with Bernard Weiner. Educational Psychology Review, 8(2), 165–174.
Slee, R. (2011). The irregular school: exclusion, schooling and inclusive education. Abingdon: Routledge.
Slee, R. (2013). How do we make inclusive education happen when exclusion is a political predisposition. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 17(8), 895–907.
Soriano-Ferrer, M., Echegaray-Bengoa, J., & Joshi, R. M. (2016). Knowledge and beliefs about developmental dyslexia in pre-service and in-service Spanish speaking teachers. Annals of Dyslexia, 66(1), 91–110.
Tomlinson, C. (1999). The differentiated classroom: responding to the needs of all learners. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Tournaki, N. (2003). Effect of student characteristics on teachers’ predictions of student success. The Journal of Educational Research, 96(5), 310–319.
UNESCO. (1994). The Salamanca statement and framework for action on special needs education. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
UNESCO. (2005). Guidelines for inclusion:ensuring access to education for all. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
UNESCO. (2009). Policy guidelines for inclusion in education. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Waheeda, T., & Grainger, J. (2002). Self-concept, attributional style and self-efficacy beliefs of students with learning disabilities with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Learning Disability Quarterly, 25(2), 141–151.
Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92(4), 548–573.
Weiner, B. (2000). Intrapersonal and interpersonal theories of motivation from an attributional perspective. Educational Psychology Review., 12(1), 1–14.
Weiner, B. (2010). The development of an attribution-based theory of motivation: a history of ideas. Educational Psychologist, 45(1), 28–36.
Whitley, J. (2010). Modelling the influence of teacher characteristics on student achievement for Canadian students with and without learning disabilities. International Journal of Special Education, 25(3), 88–97.
Woodcock, S., & Vialle, W. (2010). Attributional beliefs of students with learning disabilities. The International Journal of Learning, 17(7), 177–191.
Woodcock, S., & Vialle, W. (2011). Are we exacerbating students’ learning disabilities? An investigation of preservice teachers’ attributions of the educational outcomes of students with learning disabilities. Annals of Dyslexia, 61(2), 223–241.
Woodcock, S., & Vialle, W. (2016). An examination of pre-service teachers’ attributions for students with specific learning difficulties. Learning and Individual Differences, 45, 252–259.
Yailagh, M. S., Lloyd, J., & Walsh, J. (2009). The causal relationships between attribution styles, mathematics self-efficacy beliefs, gender differences, goal setting, and math achievement of school children. Journal of Education and Psychology, 3(2), 95–114.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Woodcock, S., Hitches, E. Potential or problem? An investigation of secondary school teachers’ attributions of the educational outcomes of students with specific learning difficulties. Ann. of Dyslexia 67, 299–317 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-017-0145-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-017-0145-7