Parental and special education teachers influence on psychological adjustment of pupils with learning disabilities in inclusive primary schools in Kenya

Abstract

Learning disabilities (LDs) encompass a very extensive range of academic problems which can give rise to social and psychological problems. Apart from experiencing academic problems, pupils with LDs experience strong feelings of frustrations, sadness and shame as a result of repeated failure and this can lead to psychological difficulties. These psychological problems are experienced at home and at school and if not addressed, they add to the burden of the condition and could find their way into adulthood. The study was guided by the following objectives: to determine the influence of parent child relationships on pupils’ psychological adjustment and to examine the influence of teacher pupil relationships on psychological adjustment of pupils with LDs. Mixed methods research design was used. Saturated and purposive sampling techniques were used to select participants. The sample size was 116 which comprised of 96 pupils, 10 parents and 10 special education teachers. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used as data collection instruments. Parent child relationships were found to be positively correlated with psychological adjustment with a Pearson’s R-value of 00.375** with parents explaining 14.1% of the relationship. Teacher pupil relationships were found to have influence on psychological adjustment of pupils with LDs with a Pearson’s R-value of 0.571** with teachers explaining 32.6 % of the relationship. Key words: Learning disabilities, psychological adjustment, inclusive primary schools, pupils, special education teachers, parental influence, teacher influence.