EXPLORING TEACHER’S VIEWS AND PERCEPTIONS OF STUDENTS WITH NON-VISIBLE DISABILITIES

The course of Physical Education (PE) plays an important role in the education and training of children with or without disabilities. In this work, the Theory of Planned Behaviour was used to investigate attitudes and perceptions of teachers Physical Education and Parallel Support of Primary Education, regarding non-visible disabilities. The purpose of the work was to investigate the intentions and attitudes of teachers and more specifically, their demographic characteristics, such as gender, age, educational level, and fields of study. The factors of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, which includes concepts such as attitudes, intention, perceived control, and actual behaviour, were studied through 120 participants, who answered a specially constructed questionnaire which, in addition to demographic data, included questions from the Planned Behaviour Questionnaire, to investigate teachers attitudes and intentions, as well as to establish whether the above factors are influenced by both work experience and educational qualifications. The findings of the study show that the dimensions of the Theory of Planned Behaviour were high. In addition, it becomes obvious that the previous work experience and academic education of teachers are not related to the intention, perceived control, and actual behaviour of the participants. This thesis can contribute to a fuller understanding of the needs that currently exist in Greek schools for the subject of Physical Education for all students with or without disabilities. In addition, it is possible to help conclude if there is a positive correlation between the aim of shaping academic programs with different content and organization, compared to those that are currently preparing physical education teachers.  Article visualizations: