1Post Graduate in Nursing, College of Nursing, Puducherry-06
2Lecturer, College of Nursing, Puducherry-06
3Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, College of Nursing, JIPMER (Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research), Puducherry-06
4Sister Tutor, College of Nursing, JIPMER (Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research), Puducherry-06
*Address for correspondence: Padmavathi Nagarajan, E- mail: padmavathi2002@gmail.com
Online published on 25 March, 2015.
Specific learning disabilities are not widely recognized as disorders that cause difficulties in learning because of the deficient knowledge of teachers, parents and physicians. Early identification and appropriate interventions will bring about plenty of changes. If teachers are equipped with adequate knowledge and appropriate skills in handling the children with learning disability, it will help them to improve in future.
True experimental pretest – posttest control group research design was adopted. The study population comprised of all primary school teachers of government schools in Puducherry. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the sample of 60 primary school teachers in selected government schools of Puducherry. Thirty samples were assigned in experimental group and 30 in control group. A pretest was conducted by using a structured questionnaire to assess the existing level of knowledge regarding specific learning disabilities among the study subjects. Followed by this, a structured teaching programme on specific learning disabilities was administered to the subjects in the experimental group in three sessions, on consecutive days. Each session had duration of 30 minutes. A posttest was conducted after 2 weeks for both groups with the same questionnaire and effectiveness of the teaching programme on the level of knowledge was assessed.
There was a highly significant difference (p < 0.001) between the experimental group and the control group on the level of knowledge regarding specific learning disabilities after the administration of structured teaching programme.
The majority of the primary school teachers have a poor level of knowledge regarding specific learning disabilities. The structured teaching programme is an effective method to increase the knowledge regarding specific learning disabilities among the primary school teachers. The level of knowledge regarding specific learning disabilities among the primary school teachers is not influenced by their demographic variables such as age, gender, educational level, marital status and years of teaching experience.
Primary School Teachers, Specific Learning Disabilities, Primary School Children
