Inclusion of autistic students in schools: Knowledge, self-efficacy, and attitude of teachers in Germany.

LAY ABSTRACT: Nowadays, autistic students are often enrolled in mainstream schools. To successfully include autistic students in general education, teachers need to possess knowledge about autism, feel competent in teaching autistic students, and have a positive attitude toward their inclusion. However, in Germany, little is known about the knowledge, the self-efficacy, and the attitude concerning autism among teachers working at mainstream schools. Therefore, we conducted a study in which we used items to assess knowledge, self-efficacy, and attitude. A total of 887 general education teachers participated in the study. The results showed that the level of knowledge about autism was moderate among teachers. Similarly, teachers did not hold overwhelmingly high self-efficacy beliefs. However, their attitude toward inclusion of autistic students was rather positive. At the same time, teachers who had experience with teaching autistic students possessed more knowledge and higher self-efficacy than teachers who had no experience with teaching autistic students. In addition, female teachers were more knowledgeable about autism and felt more competent in teaching autistic students than male teachers. In contrast, knowledge, self-efficacy, and attitude were rather similar among teachers from different types of schools. The findings suggest that teachers in Germany should possess more knowledge about autism and feel more competent in teaching autistic students. Therefore, it is important to systematically include autism trainings in teacher education programs.

[Teaching in times of corona: a look at the challenges from the perspective of research on learning and instruction]. / Unterricht in Zeiten von Corona: Ein Blick auf die Herausforderungen aus der Sicht von Unterrichts- und Instruktionsforschung.

As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nationwide school closures caused exceptional circumstances that created new and unpredictable challenges for teachers. In this article, we synthesize research on learning and instruction to examine how teachers can teach effectively in a pandemic. First, we shed light on the disadvantages associated with exclusively taking a view on the surface structures of teaching in the discussion about good teaching under pandemic conditions. Second, on the basis of the deep structures of teaching, we present challenges caused by a pandemic for high-quality teaching in terms of cognitive activation, student support and classroom management. Third, we discuss more specifically how instructional activities can be intentionally designed by teachers with regard to stimulating motivation, presenting information, processing information, practicing, enhancing transfer, and providing feedback to facilitate learning in times of a pandemic. In this context, we also discuss the important role of parental support for learning. Fourth, we provide recommendations for good teaching under pandemic conditions and discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen as a chance for research to generate knowledge on new forms of individual learning that could enrich future teaching.

What makes a good teacher? The relative importance of mathematics teachers' cognitive ability, personality, knowledge, beliefs, and motivation for instructional quality.

BACKGROUND: Teachers differ substantially in their instructional performance in the classroom. Thus, researchers and policymakers are interested in how these differences can be explained and how the instruction provided by low-performing teachers can be improved. Previous research has focused either on generic (cognitive ability and personality) or profession-specific (professional knowledge, beliefs, and motivation for teaching) teacher characteristics as predictors of instructional quality but their relative importance has not yet been tested. AIMS: Hardly any studies have combined central generic and profession-specific variables in ascertaining their relative importance for instructional quality. In the present study, we seek to close this research gap. SAMPLES: We investigated 209 German mathematics teachers and their 4,672 students attending grades 7-10 (13- to 16-year-old students). METHODS: Teacher characteristics (cognitive ability, personality, professional knowledge, beliefs about, and enthusiasm for teaching) were assessed using standardized tests and self-report measures. Instructional quality (learning support, classroom disruptions, and cognitive activation) was rated by the students. RESULTS: Using structural equation modelling, we found extraversion, enthusiasm for teaching, and pedagogical/psychological knowledge to be significant predictors of learning support (R2  = .31) and conscientiousness and enthusiasm for teaching to be significant predictors of classroom discipline (R2  = .21). We did not find significant predictors for cognitive activation. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate the relative significance of generic and profession-specific teacher variables for instructional quality. Overall, a substantial amount of variance in instructional quality is explained by teacher characteristics.