Practising Family-Centred Positive Behaviour Support for Preservice Special Education Teachers: Early Intervention Professional Training in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the practice of family-centred positive behaviour support professional training for preservice special education teachers to understand the outcomes of implementing this training in the practical field. The emphasis of the first phase was to provide foundational knowledge, namely 14 hours of lectures and 7.5 hours of video modelling. The second phase involved implementing practical training in two preschools. Twelve students majoring in special education teaching programs and six families with children aged 4 − 5 years with disabilities agreed to participate in this study. The average scores of pre-tests and post-tests in the first phase were 65% and 73%, respectively. The Goal Attainment Scale and self-made checklists were used to assess the outcomes for each stage of training, specifically regarding technical skills and the ability to collaborate with families. The results revealed significant growth in all technical skills for all participants and positive outcomes for social validity.

KEYWORDS:

• Early intervention
• positive behaviour support
• professional training
• special education
• Taiwan

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. PBS is defined as a method of problem solving that emphasizes educational strategies to support students’ behaviours and promotes positive behaviours accepted by others.

2. Inclusive education refers to the placement of children with disabilities in general education classrooms where they can learn and interact with children without disabilities. All children share educational and social resources, and both general and special education work together to enhance the learning of children with disabilities.

3. The service provider is the special education teachers, and their roles are in support of students with disabilities placed in regular classrooms. Their duties include collaborating with general education teachers to help students with disabilities adapt to the general education learning environments and providing resources for families in a timely manner.

4. One professional (PA) was the first author who conducted on-site supervision, and the other (PB) conducted remote supervision. PB watched recorded videos of the interns and conducted Skype meetings once every 2 weeks.

Additional information

Funding

This research reported here was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, under [Grant 104-2410-H-143-005] to the principle investigator, Szu-Yin Chu.