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Educating for Success. Models of Practice for Teachers of Students on the Autism Spectrum
Teacher knowledge affects, positively or negatively, the inclusion and learning of students on the autism spectrum. There is an established need for practicing teachers to engage in professional learning and development activities for meeting the social-emotional, behavioural, communication, sensory and learning needs of students on the spectrum.
Objectives: The objective of this research was to design, validate, and trial two Models of Practice (MoP) for Australian mainstream early and middle educators, respectively. Each MoP supports teacher decision-making and fosters the effective inclusion of students on the spectrum. The MoP is an Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC) education project.
Methods: A Design Based Research approach was used to develop and validate the development of the Early Years Model of Practice (EY-MoP) and the Middle Years Model of Practice (MY-MoP). Multiple, iterative cycles of design/construction and evaluation/reflection were enacted (McKenney & Reeves, 2012). Successive prototypes were formatively evaluated to establish both content and social validity of both MoPs. Twenty-nine validated practices (EY-MoP) were trialled by Prep/Kindergarten teachers (n = 43) in 23 schools across Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. Thirty six validated practices in the MY-MoP were trialled by Year 7 and 8 secondary teachers (n = 32) in 10 schools across Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. Schools were assigned to one of three conditions (face-to-face coaching, on-line coaching and information only) with access to the MoPs via the project website. Teachers implemented the MoPs in their classroom for 8 weeks, with data being collected at two time points across this period using online surveys and phone interviews.
Results: This field-testing of both the EY and MY MoPs has demonstrated their usefulness to teachers. The MoP trial surveys and interview results indicated that teachers perceived each practice model as a user-friendly tool that supported their decision making and classroom practice. Further, survey results indicated that use of the MoPs led to increases in teacher knowledge, confidence, and sense of self-efficacy.
Conclusions: The trial of two Models of Practice (MoP) for Australian mainstream early and middle educators, points to the viability of these practice tools in classrooms which include students on the autism spectrum and their associated impact of increasing teacher knowledge, confidence, and sense of self-efficacy.