Enhancing Graduate Students' Attitudes and Self-Efficacy towards Inclusively Teaching Children with Disabilities Using an Inclusivity-Based Physical Activity Program

Abstract

Although the inclusion of disabled children in physical education (PE) classes remains challenging, the attitudes and self-efficacy (SE) of physical educators are considered critical factors impacting the implementation of such inclusion successfully. This study aims to examine the impact of an inclusive physical activity (IPA) intervention program on the attitudes and SE of Saudi graduate PE students as future physical educators towards including children with hearing impairments in PE classes. A sample of 40 female graduate students (experimental group: n = 20; control group: n = 20) aged 24–42 years from a university in Eastern Saudi Arabia participated in the study. Attitudes and SE were measured pre-and post-IPA intervention program using the Arabic version of the Attitudes Toward Inclusion in Physical Education and Self-Efficacy Scale for Physical Education Teacher Education Majors toward the Inclusion of Children with Disabilities. The findings of a repeated measure ANOVA indicated that the IPA intervention program had significant improvements on participants’ SE towards including children with hearing impairments in PE classes compared to the control group; participants’ attitudes towards children with hearing impairments in PE classes were also improved, but not significantly. This study’s findings support the continued implementation of such intervention programs with different populations and different disabilities.