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A STUDY ON TEACHERS' CONCERN AND PREOFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN
THE ELEMENTARY RETARDED CLASSESKUANG-JEN TSAIAbstract This
study aims at exploring of teaching concern and professional
development of teachers in the mentally retarded classes of
elementary schools in Taiwan. The variations in teaching concern
and professional development, derived from different ages,
genders, teaching years, teaching areas, and professional
training backgrounds of the teachers, and the relation between
teaching concern and professional development have been
carefully investigated. The researcher works out a Teaching
concern Scale for Teachers of Mentally Retarded Children and a
Professional Development Scale for Teachers of Mentally Retarded
Children by questionnaires taking teachers of mentally retarded
children in Taiwan as subjects. 439 of the 596 questionnaires
have been collected and analyzed with statistic methods like
one-way multi-variable ANOVA and typical correlation analysis,
and the finding are as follows: 1.Currently, teachers of the
mentally retarded children in the elementary schools have shown
their teaching concern in a normalized way. The number of the
teachers is properly distributed in each group. This suggests
that teachers of the mentally retarded children do take
different attitudes toward what is the aspect that deserves
their utmost concern, namely, the most important matter which
they expect to be taken care of. 2.Teachers of different
genders, ages, teaching years show different levels of
variations: female teachers, under forty-five with more than
two-year teaching experience reveal higher percentage of
concern on teaching. 3.Teachers in different teaching areas
and with different professional training backgrounds show equal
teaching concern. 4.Teachers' professional skills improves
in accord with the increase of teaching year, while the desire
for further professional development eases with the increase of
teaching year. 5.The dexterity of teachers' professional
skills is affected by factors like age, teaching year, and
professional training backgrounds: teachers above thirty-six,
with more than five years of teaching experience, graduating
from the department/graduate institute of special education show
higher level of professional dexterity. Teachers' desire for
professional knowledge is influenced by factors like gender,
age, teaching year, and teaching area: female teachers, forty-
one to forty-five years old, with less than three-year teaching
experience, teaching in the rural areas, who have a greater
intention in professional development. 6.Professional
development and teaching concern are in a relation of
inclusiveness. They show a positive mutually-predicted
correlation which, though, allow only little interpretation, so
further investigations are needed. In addition to the
discussion on the findings in the study, the researcher also
offers some suggestions on how to promote the teaching concern
and professional development of the teachers of mentally
retarded children. These suggestions may serve as references
when the education authorities or teacher college elaborate
preservice and inservice advanced activities for these teachers.
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