Primary school teachers' opinions and attitudes towards stuttering in two South African urban education districts

Kristen Abrahams, Michal Harty, Kenneth O St Louis, Lehana Thabane, Harsha Kathard, Kristen Abrahams, Michal Harty, Kenneth O St Louis, Lehana Thabane, Harsha Kathard

Abstract

Background: As teachers form an important part of the intervention process with childrenwho stutter in primary school, the primary aim was to describe primary school teachers'attitudes in South Africa. The secondary aim was to compare teachers' attitudes towardsstuttering in South Africa with those from a pooled group of respondents in the Public OpinionSurvey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) database from different countries collectedin 2009-2014.

Method: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey research design was used. Primary schools intwo education districts in Western Cape, South Africa, were sampled. The POSHA-S, a selfadministeredquestionnaire, was completed by a cluster sample of 469 participants.

Results: Overall positive attitudes towards stuttering were found, specifically related to thepotential of people who stutter, although the result should be interpreted with caution as thesample was not homogenously positive. Teachers still had misconceptions about personalitystereotypes and the cause of stuttering. The attitudes of the South African sample were slightlymore positive compared with the samples in the current POSHA-S database.

Conclusion: When developing stuttering intervention strategies, there are a number of keyconsiderations to take into account. The study provides a basis for speech-language therapiststo think about intervention with teachers and which areas of stuttering to consider.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationship(s) that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow chart depicting sampling process, with number of respondents per stage.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Summary of POSHA–S radial graph for the South African sample in comparison to the lowest, median and highest scores in the POSHA–S database archive (circa August 2014).

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