Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
College/Unit
School of Public Health
Department/Program/Center
Biostatistics
Abstract
Background: As teachers form an important part of the intervention process with children who stutter in primary school, the primary aim was to describe primary school teachers’ attitudes in South Africa. The secondary aim was to compare teachers’ attitudes towards stuttering in South Africa with those from a pooled group of respondents in the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes–Stuttering (POSHA-S) database from different countries collected in 2009–2014.
Method: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey research design was used. Primary schools in two education districts in Western Cape, South Africa, were sampled. The POSHA-S, a selfadministered questionnaire, was completed by a cluster sample of 469 participants.
Results: Overall positive attitudes towards stuttering were found, specifically related to the potential of people who stutter, although the result should be interpreted with caution as the sample was not homogenously positive. Teachers still had misconceptions about personality stereotypes and the cause of stuttering. The attitudes of the South African sample were slightly more positive compared with the samples in the current POSHA-S database.
Conclusion: When developing stuttering intervention strategies, there are a number of key considerations to take into account. The study provides a basis for speech-language therapists to think about intervention with teachers and which areas of stuttering to consider.
Digital Commons Citation
Abrahams, Kristen; Harty, Michal; St. Louis, Kenneth O.; Thabane, Lehana; and Kathard, Harsha, "Primary school teachers’ opinions and attitudes towards stuttering in two South African urban education districts" (2016). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 1970.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/1970
Source Citation
Abrahams, K., Harty, M., St. Louis, K. O., Thabane, L., & Kathard, H. (2016). Primary school teachers’ opinions and attitudes towards stuttering in two South African urban education districts. South African Journal of Communication Disorders, 63(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/sajcd.v63i1.157
Comments
© 2016. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licen