International Journal of Special Education, 2013
is culturally viewed as a school specific condition. Parents perceive accessing child psychiatric... more is culturally viewed as a school specific condition. Parents perceive accessing child psychiatric services as stigmatizing and prefer educational interventions for ADHD. There is a crucial need for research that restructures information and intervention paradigms about ADHD within a school context. The objectives of the present study were to understand teacher perspectives in relation to ADHD behaviours as they present in mainstream elementary classrooms. Located in Bangalore Urban district, India, the purposive sample consisted of teachers and students from the elementary section of 5 regular schools. Data was obtained through in-depth interviews, classroom observations and responses to vignettes. Responses were qualitatively analysed for themes and main concepts. Results indicate that teachers use a framework model to locate the construct of ADHD in a developmental context. ADHD behaviours are attributed to parent disciplining styles and environmental factors such as over exposure to electronic media. Teachers respond to classroom challenging behaviours using directive and heuristic strategies. The study highlights the need to recognize cultural complexities in understanding the ADHD construct.
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