Teachers’ attitudes/professional standards and mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs regarding students with intellectual disability

Abstract

This study investigated the mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs and attitudes/ Professional Standards of 5 teachers towards students with intellectual disability (ID) educated within a special school setting. The Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs of the teachers was measured using the Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (MTEBI) developed by Enochs, Smith, and Huinker (2000). Questionnaires, constructed in accordance with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL, 2011) were administered to para-professionals to measure teachers’ attitudes/Professional Standards. The outcomes of the study showed that while all 5 teachers demonstrated high Outcome Expectancy and Self Efficacy beliefs in their ability to teach mathematics to students with ID, teachers’ expectations of their students were found to be low, inconsistent and high for 20%, 40% and another 40% of the teachers respectively.