TEACHERS’ AGE AND ITS INFLUENCES IN THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARDS VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN IN INTEGRATED SCHOOLS.

Abstract

When visually impaired learners are integrated in regular public schools, one of the challenges they encounter is the negative attitude of the sighted peers and teachers. This affects their adjustment in the new environment. A sample of 21 teachers below the age of 39 and 27 teachers were above 39 years of age was selected. The criterion for selection was that they taught visually impaired learners in integrated schools. The hypothesis was stated that there was no statistical significant difference between younger and older teachers in their perception of integration of visually impaired children in public primary schools. A likert type scale with a Cronbach alpha of 0.7was used to collect data. Collected data was analyzed using SPSS and the mean obtained were 69.4 for teachers below 39 years and 67.5 for teachers above 39 years. This gave a mean grade of 1.9, T-Value of 0.447 and P-Value of 0.657. The findings were that younger teachers. The older teachers need to be sensitized on integration