Teaching autistic children in mainstream primary schools: teachers' experiences

This thesis consists of two papers, a systematic literature review and an empirical journal article. The systematic literature review identified and analysed research on how teachers in mainstream primary classrooms in Ireland form attributions around challenging behaviour. Challenging behaviour is a term used to describe a range of behaviours that impact the physical safety of the individual and others around him or her. Twenty-four studies were reviewed through the process of quality appraisal. The reviewed studies determined that externalised behaviours caused the most concern to mainstream class teachers. Furthermore, the literature suggests that teachers form attributions about children’s behaviour to the characteristics of children themselves rather than to environmental factors. The empirical study used a qualitative design to explore primary school teachers’ experiences of teaching autistic children in mainstream school in Ireland. A secondary aim of this research was to identify what role educational psychologists play in supporting teachers working with autistic children in mainstream primary schools. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers. The teachers’ understanding of their role, their professional preparation and their response to children’s behaviours were also discussed. Inductive reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The first theme highlighted that teachers learn most through their experience of teaching autistic children. The second theme related to how teachers interpret the behaviour of autistic children. Autistic children need teachers who are knowledgeable and who know how to support them in mainstream classes, which is the third theme. Finally, the fourth theme related to the fact that teachers thought the most important thing to do as a teacher was to listen to autistic children in school. The implications of the findings for the professional practice and research of educational psychologists are discussed throughout this thesis.