The purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which in-service physical education teachers construct their self-efficacy beliefs toward teaching students with disabilities in general physical education classes. Using a qualitative descriptive approach situated within self-efficacy theory, data were collected via semistructured audio-recorded interviews with 16 in-service physical educators. Three interrelated themes were constructed: (a) The more I do it, the better I feel: the importance of professional experiences; (b) I’ve learned from others: the influence of colleagues; and (c) Being in the general educational setting is a challenge: the impact of contextual factors. Findings supported the influence of the four sources of self-efficacy (i.e., mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasion, and affective and physiological state), in addition to potential contextual factors (i.e., class sizes and availability of hands-on support), impacting participants’ self-efficacy to teach students with disabilities in general physical education classes.
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Exploring Physical Educators’ Self-Efficacy to Teach Students With Disabilities in General Physical Education
Lindsey A. Nowland
The Self-Efficacy of Physical Education Teachers to Teach Students With Disabilities: A Systematic Review of Literature
Lindsey A. Nowland and Justin A. Haegele
The purpose of this article is to examine the content of previously published empirical literature utilizing self-efficacy theory with regard to physical education teachers’ perceived self-confidence to teach students with disabilities in general physical education. Keyword searches were used to identify relevant literature from electronic databases published from 2000 to 2022. Twenty-four articles, from 11 countries, met all inclusion criteria, and relevant data regarding participants, theory, measurement, research design, and dependent variables were extracted. Of the 24 studies, nine were survey validation, eight were experimental, six were cross-sectional, and one was mixed-methods design. Major findings across the examined studies indicate that teachers’ perceptions of training, amount of experience, and support from personnel significantly influence their self-efficacy toward teaching students with disabilities.
Absent, Incapable, and “Normal”: Understanding the Inclusiveness of Visually Impaired Students’ Experiences in Integrated Physical Education
Justin A. Haegele, Lindsay E. Ball, Xihe Zhu, M. Ally Keene, and Lindsey A. Nowland
The purpose of this study was to examine the inclusiveness of visually impaired youths’ experiences in integrated physical education. An experiential qualitative research approach was utilized, and 22 visually impaired youth (age 12–17 years) acted as participants. Data sources included one-on-one Zoom interviews, written responses to long-answer prompts, and reflexive interview notes. Data were analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis approach, and three themes were constructed: (a) I’m not there, so how could I: The absent person; (b) I can’t see, so I can’t do it: The incapable person; and (c) It’d be nice to feel like everyone else: The “normal” person. Participants described that feelings of inclusion were unavailable to them and that feeling, and being viewed as, absent, incapable, and (not) “normal” highlighted this unavailability.