Attributional beliefs of Canadian trainee teachers toward students with a learning disability

Teachers are one of the most important factors in successful inclusion of students with a learning disability in mainstream classrooms. Attitudes towards inclusion of certain students in classrooms have been mixed, and many attitudes are often developed during the pre-service training and early teaching years. This study investigated the attitudes of trainee teachers towards students with learning disabilities by analysing their attributional responses to hypothetical students. Accordingly, 181 graduating Canadian trainee teachers were surveyed and the results indicated that as students' ability levels decrease, teachers' sympathy levels rise, and the expectation of future failure increases. Moreover, as students' expended efforts increase, the teacher feedback becomes more positive, the frustration decreases, the sympathy levels rise, and the expectation of future failure decreases. With regards to differences between students with and without a learning disability, as students' ability levels increase the difference in trainee teachers' sympathy level increases. Furthermore, as students' expended efforts increase, the difference in teacher feedback given to students with and without a learning disability decreases, the difference in frustration and sympathy levels decrease, and the difference in expectations of future failure increases. Implications and recommendations for practice and research conclude the paper.