Date of Completion

11-27-2019

Embargo Period

1-7-2020

Keywords

peer social interactions, social competence, teachers, interventions

Major Advisor

Mary Beth Bruder

Associate Advisor

George Sugai

Associate Advisor

Cristina Wilson

Associate Advisor

Tara Lutz

Field of Study

Educational Psychology

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Open Access

Open Access

Abstract

Teachers’ ability to facilitate social interactions between children in the early childhood classroom is necessary for the development of social competence in all children, including those with disabilities. Peer social interaction interventions are a group of interventions to promote social engagement by focusing on the reciprocal social exchanges between children with and without disabilities. However, the literature base around teachers’ use of peer social interaction interventions indicates teachers use these practices infrequently and their use is related to their beliefs about the acceptability and feasibility of the interventions. This study validates prior research related to teachers’ beliefs and use of peer social interactions interventions and contributes new knowledge by identifying the importance of training, as well as the role of ecological factors. The results indicated that teachers find interventions to be more acceptable to use than they believe them to be feasible to use. Furthermore, teachers reported using these interventions less often than they believe them to be acceptable or feasible. Training was statistically significantly associated with teachers’ ratings. Ecological implementation barriers were identified by teachers, which illustrate a potential cause for teachers report and use of peer social interaction interventions. The implications of these findings are discussed, and future research, policy, and training directions are identified.

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