The Effect of Using a Training Program on Changing School Counselors' Attitudes towards Students with Special Educational Needs in Al-Karak District

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of a
training program on changing School Counselors' Attitudes
towards Students with Special Educational Needs in Al-Karak
District and the factors effecting their attitudes. Thirty school
counselor volunteers were selected and assigned randomly
into two groups; experimental and control. An experimental
design was used, where the experimental group was exposed
to six sessions. The Jordanian adaptation of the Attitudes
towards Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP) was administrated to
both groups as pre- and post-test exposure conditions. Results
of t-test revealed no significant difference between the two
groups on the pre-exposure measure. The results indicated
that there was a significant difference in the counselors'
attitudes towards the students with special needs as a result of
exposure to training sessions. Also, there were significant
differences in the counselor's attitudes due to their gender
and previous experience. Female counselors expressed more
positive attitudes towards students with special educational
needs than male counselors. School counselors with previous
experience with students with special educational needs had
more positive attitudes towards students with special
educational needs than those who had no experience. The
current study, recommends expanding research in this field
and looking for other related variables.