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Preservice Early Childhood Teachers' Sense of Efficacy for Teaching Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Fri, April 5, 4:20 to 5:50pm, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Floor: 700 Level, Room 705

Abstract

Self-efficacy, a motivational construct, is a belief in one’s ability to engage in a specific task. Both pre-service and in-service teachers believe they lack adequate understanding of students with ASD and how to teach them which inhibits there teaching self-efficacy. We employed a mixed methods approach to explore 25 preservice early childhood teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching children with autism in inclusive settings as they participated in a course on the nature of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Results indicated that participants’ self-efficacy increased over time. Participants attributed this change to an increase in their understanding of ASD and children with ASD; that is as their understanding grew so did their perceptions that they could be successful in the classroom as teachers.

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