[[alternative]]A Study of Elementary School Teachers' Attitudes and Attributions toward Mental Retardation

[[abstract]]The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' attitudes and attributions toward mental retardation and to understand the relationships between attitudes and attributions. The sample consisted of 571 elementary regular teachers from both Taipei County and Taipei City. Instruments used in this study were the revised "Inventory of the Attitudes Toward the Mentally Retarded" and "Inventory of the Attributions Toward the Mental Retardation". The obtained data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, one-way MANOVA, Pearson correlation, multiple stepwise regression, and canonical correlation analysis. The main findings were as follows: 1. The Attitudes of Teachers Toward the Mentally Retarded Data analysis in this study indicated the attitudes of teachers toward the mentally retarded were relatively positive, though the "School Integration" attitudes were somewhat negative. There were significant differences for "training in special education" and "contact with the mentally retarded". Teachers with more professional training in special education and more contact experiences with the mentally retarded, possessed more positive attitudes toward the mentally retarded. Besides, the female teachers showed more positive attitudes toward the mentally retarded in "Social Openness" than did the male. 2. The Attributions of Teachers Toward Mental Retardation The main attributions of teachers toward mental retardation were "Biological-Medical". There were significant differences for "gender", "age", "education degree" and "training in special education". The male teachers possessed more Fatalistic attributions than did the female. The younger, higher educated and teachers with more professional training in special education, the more inclined toward Biological-Medical and Social-Environmental attributions. 3. Using Personal Background to Predict Attitudes According to the results of regression stepwise analysis, although could just explain 5.48% of the variance, "training in special education" and "contact with the mentally retarded" could significantly predict the attitudes of teachers toward the mentally retarded. The best predictor of teachers' attitudes was "training in special education". In more specific words, "contact with the mentally retarded" was more powerful in predicting "Social Openness", although could just explain 1.28% of the variance. "Training in special education" was more powerful in predicting "School Integration", could just explain 6.34% of the variance. "Contact with the mentally retarded" and "age" were more powerful in predicting "Community Integration", could just explain 3.68% of the variance. The best predictor was "contact with the mentally retarded". 4. Using Personal Background to Predict Attributions The results indicated that Fatalistic attributions was more significantly predicteq by "gender", although could just explain 1.14% of the variance. Biologieal-Medical and Social-Environmental attributions were both more significantly predicted by "age", "education degree" and "training in special education", could just explain 9.07%, 10.07% of the variance, respectively. The best predictor of both attributions was "age". 5. The Relationships between Attitude and Attributions The result of canonical correlation analysis revealed that attitudes were significantly associated with attributions by two canonical variates. The first variate suggested that those teachers who exhibited stronger Fatalistic attributions toward mental retardation, were more likely to possess negative attitudes toward the mentally retarded in "Social Openness" and "Compunity Integration". The second variate suggested that those teachers' who exhibited stronger Biological-Medical attributions toward inental retardation, were more likely to possess negative attitudes toward the mentally retarded children in "School Integration". Besides, from the judgment of redundancy between attitudes and attributions, attitudes were explained more by attributions. Limits of this study and its implications for education and future research were proposed.