Teacher expectations and emotions concerning students with special educational needs

The increasing heterogeneity of the student population often poses a challenge for teachers, as they often feel inadequately prepared and therefore less positive about including students with special educational needs (SEN). In this context, research has indicated that a diagnosis or label of SEN affects teachers´ expectations and behaviour. Indeed, stereotype-based expectations of teachers determine their interactions with different students and in turn student outcomes. These expectations are also associated with different feelings, which in turn have an influence on how teachers (re)act in certain teaching situations. Stereotype based expectations can be triggered by just one salient attribute, whereby stereotype knowledge can reduce complexity and facilitates the effective processing of information. Stereotypes develop according to systematic principles, and people´s perception of others is mainly determined by the dimensions of warmth and competence. The mixed stereotype content model proposes that different warmth-competence combinations may trigger differential behavioural and affective responses (e.g. paternalistic emotions vs. resentment). The current study aimed to investigate to what extent teacher expectations of students´ warmth and competence and their emotions concerning inclusion of students with SEN varied as a function of specific SEN. Participants included 31 experienced in-service and 46 pre-service teachers (primary school). Participants were presented with two student descriptions: One student vignette described a student with learning difficulties and another a student with challenging behaviour. After reading each description, teachers were asked to complete scales to rate the student´s warmth and competence and teachers´ emotions were assessed using a semantic differential scale. Results of a 2×2 mixed method MANOVA showed significant main effects of SEN type and teacher status, but no significant interaction. The student with challenging behaviour was rated as average competent but less warm , whilst the student with learning difficulties was rated as more warm but less competent. In-service teachers generally provided higher ratings than preservice teachers. Results of a 2×2 mixed method ANOVA showed that teachers emotions varied as a function of student SEN and teacher status. Teachers felt les secure, more anxious and less optimistic when considering including students with challenging behaviour than a student with learning difficulties. Results of our study support previous findings concerning the effect of student characteristics on teachers´ expectations and emotions. Given the relationship between teacher expectations and student performance and the associations between expectations, emotions and behaviour, these findings can contribute to understanding factors underlying educational inequalities.
References:

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