Effect of a Disability Course on Prospective Educators' Attitudes Toward Individuals with Mental Retardation

Prospective educators who completed a course about social work with disabilities were participants in a study that investigated whether attitudes toward individuals with mental retardation (MR) would be enhanced by the information provided in the course. The quasi‐experimental design of the study involved a control group together with a pretest and a posttest, and several demographic and experiential variables. The study used a version of the Mental Retardation Attitude Inventory‐Revised that Kandari and Salih (in press) adapted for the Kuwaiti culture. Results revealed that the course did not influence students' attitudes toward individuals with MR. The authors discussed the findings in relation to determining the changes needed in the course's curriculum and evaluating the information provided for prospective educators in order for them to support the integration of individuals with MR into mainstream society. Throughout history, society's attitude towards individuals with Mental Retardation (MR) has been predominantly negative. Society has created an ‘out‐group’ of people who may be seen as less than human because they are disadvantaged in terms of some abilities and characteristics such as intelligence, self‐consciousness, and the ability to have human relationship that the majority of its citizens possess. The history of segregation of individuals with MR has reinforced this notion by adopting the term ‘handicap’ or ‘disability,’ which signifies the presence of an inherent difference between them and other people. Such segregation can negate the fact that one is a human being; depriving him\her of enjoying the benefits afforded to those without disabilities (Philip, 1992). Smith (1981) provides an example of the danger of society's beliefs about individuals with MR as being less than human. He brings to attention that fetuses with Downs syndrome are usually aborted because, when they are born, they would not meet certain minimum requirements for being human. They would be severely mentally retarded and uneducable, and would thus be a burden on their families and society. The danger of such beliefs is that individuals with MR may begin to internalize these inaccurate assumptions and thus tend to fulfill the society's expectations (Phillip, 1992). Over the last few decades, a strong movement in special education and related human services fields toward ‘normalization’ has given people with MR more opportunities to participate in various activities with people without disabilities. Changes in the provision of services to persons with disabilities have focused on increased inclusion in educational, employment, and social arenas (Antonak & Livneh, 1988). However, barriers, including the attitudes of educators, employers, co‐workers, and others, still stand between persons with MR and full inclusion (Geskie & Salesk, 1988). In Kuwait, the law of the disabled (13\96) assures the right of persons with disabilities to be included in different settings (e.g., schools, workplace, social activities, and wider community). Although Kuwaiti government has shown growing interest in the integration of individuals with MR, the chances of these individuals to integrate into mainstream society would depend on the attitudes of others (e.g. students, prospective educators, teachers, co‐workers, social workers, professionals) toward them. These attitudes, as found in many Western studies (e.g. Antonak & Harth, 1994; Gordon, Tantillo, Feldman & Perrone, 2004) are for the most part negative, which may contribute to negative outcomes on the part of individuals with MR (Byon, 2000, Special Olympics, 2003). For example, Parent, Hill and Wehman (1989) found that non‐disabled co‐workers focused on the disabled personal characteristics rather than specific job competencies. The impact of these negative attitudes may have significant consequences for both social and vocational lives of persons with MR. Mest (1988) have found that negative attitude leads to self‐isolation of persons with MR. Rusch, Hughes, Johnson and Minch (1991) found that stigma negatively affected social relationships between workers with MR and their peers without MR. As literature has shown, the provision of educational and social opportunities for individuals with disabilities can be legislated, but acceptance from other people cannot be ensured. Experts agree that complete integration and acceptance of individuals with disabilities might happen following long‐term changes in attitudes (Beattie, Anderson & Antonak, 1997). According to Langer's (1989) theory of ‘mindfulness’, changing people's attitude depends on providing enough information relevant to the problem of interest. People change their understanding of concepts based on their becoming mindful of them. Taba (1966) suggests that concepts' formation involves three stages: (1) Identifying information relevant to a problem, (2) grouping information on the basis of some similarity, and (3) developing categories and labels for the groups (Taba, 1966). With regard to MR, people might change their attitudes if they are encouraged to identify the construct of MR and then group subsequent information with enough details to form groups of categories without simply stereotyping. This is because people usually stereotype others and judge them without enough information and reflection (Langer, 1989). Thus, only continued mindfulness toward individuals with MR can eliminate stereotypical thinking and lead to their acceptance as fellow human beings in various settings. Gordon, Feldman, Tantillo, and Perrone (2004) suggested that greater awareness of disability issues results in improving social attitudes about disabilities and helps in removing attitudinal barriers. Henry, Keys, Balcazar, and Jopp (1996) also found evidence that training in inclusion philosophy increases awareness associated with positive inclusion's attitudes among staff members who work in mental disability settings, when compared to general population. There is some evidence showing that as they gain more information about individuals with MR and their conditions, their attitudes become more positive (Lawrence, Glidden & M‐Jobe, 2006; Sadek & Sadek, 2000). Conaster and Block (2001) found that instructors who taught aquatics classes to students with disabilities felt able to handle their academic coursework and experiences during the academic year. Teachers who felt competent had also more favorable beliefs and positive attitudes toward individuals with disabilities. In a related finding, Irish physical educators showed significant positive attitudes related to their previous experiences in teaching students with mild‐moderate MR (Meegan & Macphail, 2006). Folsom‐Meek and Rizzo (2002) claimed that educational preparation helps to enhance attitudes toward working with individuals with disabilities. Castoria (1986) found that understanding of the intent and concept of mainstreaming, and adequate‐to‐good training emerged as positive factors that influenced elementary and junior high school teachers' attitudes toward youngsters with special‐needs. Based on the above arguments, perceptions and attitudes of prospective educators can be enhanced by the provision of appropriate coursework related to disabilities. Otherwise, prospective educators would continue, like many people, to believe that individuals with MR are not capable of dealing with the everyday facets of life (Hunt, 2004). More seriously, educators may feel uncomfortable dealing with students with MR who happen to enroll in their classes. A study of community attitudes in one state of Australia found that up to 86% of respondents reported feeling ‘uncomfortable’ when interacting with individuals with disabilities (Enhance Management, 1999). Another study (European Commission, 2001) found that 40% of Europeans reported feeling ‘uneasy’ in the presence of people with disabilities. The coursework would thus help to increase prospective educators' willingness to work with individuals with MR, interact with them, and support their integration into society (Horne, 1985). Lack of interest and negative attitudes on the part of prospective educators may directly influence their abilities to interact with individuals with MR in a disability‐related job (Schlachter & Duckitt, 2002). Hatton, Emerson, Rivers, Mason, Swarbrick and Mason (2001) claimed that lack of interest in MR by staff members (e.g., social workers, counselors) usually discourages them from dealing with individuals with MR, and may result in their leaving the job. Although researchers (e.g. Hatton, Emerson, Rivers, Mason, Swarbrick and Mason, 2001; Larson and Lakin, 1999) found that low salary and high job stress can lead staff members to leave their jobs, Osborne and Williams (1982) indicated that lack of interest in MR was the major reason of leaving the job among social workers. Providing coursework related to disabilities increases prospective educators' awareness of disability. Gaining this awareness, they can identify and counter inequality of opportunities for individuals with MR, inaccessibility of resources, and other environmental influences that add to their powerlessness. Prospective educators usually play an active role in social change and in changing public opinion. The awareness of the disability would help them to change society's response to persons with MR, as it is affected less by public policy and more by the prevailing societal attitudes. Myers, Ager, Kerr, and Myles (1998) suggested that increasing people's awareness of individuals with disabilities would present them as having worth and value as human beings no matter how they may differ from what society considered the “norm”. Prospective educators need to become aware of handicapist language, stereotypes, and prejudices that exist in literature so that they might better promote understanding and appreciation of people with disabilities. A course dealing with disabilities would be helpful for educators to encourage understanding by accurately and respectfully portraying well‐adjusted and productive individuals with MR, due to the fact that most literature presents and reinforces prejudicial and stereotypical images of characters with MR (Catlett, Martin, and Craig, 1993; Marsh, 2003). As part of the graduation requirements, Kuwait University requires prospective educators in the Social Work Department to take courses that focus on provision of educational, social and health services to special needs groups, such as the Social Work With Disabilities (SWWD) course which has two broad goals: (a) To increase prospective educators' knowledge of individuals with disabilities, and (b) to improve prospective educators' skills to deal with individuals with disabilities in the jobsites. These goals are accomplished through a combination of presenting information, guest speakers and direct contact with the instructor. Although the course deals with different types of disabilities (learning disabilities, MR, behavior and emotional disorders, and physical disability), the present study focuses on MR and students' attitudes toward them. In a study of Ahmad (2004) in Kuwait, findings showed that 40% of respondents in 15 workplaces related to mental disabilities reported a shortage of Kuwaiti professionals (social workers, counselors, psychologists) who work with the individuals with MR, and 46.7% of them reported lack of volunteers who are in direct contact with those individuals. Most research on attitudes toward MR in educational settings has focused on assessing attitudes of individuals (e.g., Lyons & Hayes, 1993; Corrigan, Green, Lundin, Kubiak, & Penn, 2001), with little attention given to effective strategies to promote positive attitudes toward individuals with MR. The assessment of attitude of prospective educators and whether it is affected by the SWWD course is important for several reasons. First, as educators, we have the opportunity to evaluate the course with regard to an important learning outcome. This evaluation could lead to a deeper analysis of the students' learning needs, and modification of the course's performance objectives, instructional materials, instructional strategies, and assessment strategies (Miller, 1996). Second, knowing whether the course has an effect on changing students' attitude would thus help professionals and social service providers to know whether educators would have the potential to contribute to or hinder the independence of persons with MR (Antonak & Livneh, 1988). Third, as the service model in Kuwait begins to emphasize the role of persons with MR in designing and requesting services that foster independency, the role of prospective educators in this process is likely to be affected by their attitudes as an intervening variable or variable that might indirectly influences behavior (Miller, 1996). Negative attitudes, as an intervening variable, might not directly cause negative behavior toward individuals with MR, but is likely to affect behavior in an indirect way, and hence affect the opportunity for inclusion in the lives of persons with MR. Attitude can motivate behavior in either a dynamic or directive manner (Miller, 1996). The broad question of the present study was: Would teaching the SWWD course improve prospective educators' attitudes toward individuals with MR? The present study investigated this question by assessing the attitudes of prospective educators (experimental group) toward individuals with MR before and after studying the course. The study also assessed the attitudes of another group of students (control group) who were, at the same time, taking another course. The present study anticipated that the attitudes of prospective educators toward individuals with MR would become positively different, as they gain more information about MR during the course of study. We thus hypothesized that taking the SWWD would improve attitude of a prospective educator toward people with MR.     

Excavations at MR11 on Marawah Island (Abu Dhabi,UAE): new insight into the architecture and planning of Arabian Neolithic settlements and early evidence for pearling

In 1992, an archaeological survey of Marawah Island conducted by the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey identified two significant Neolithic settlements known as MR1 and MR11. Both sites are constructed on prominent rocky platforms located towards the western end of the island. In 2000 and 2003, small-scale excavations took place at MR11, with the first full excavation taking place in 2004. Excavations continued at MR11 between 2014 up to 2019. Radiocarbon dating demonstrates that the site was occupied between the earliest part of the sixth millennium to the mid-fifth millennium BC. Three areas have been so far examined. Area A—a tripartite house (2004 and 2014–2017 excavation seasons); Area B—a partial structure (in 2003 and 2017–2018); and Area C—a series of at least five rooms (in 2017–2019). The results provide a valuable new insight into the architecture and planning of Arabian Neolithic settlements in the region, as well as the earliest known evidence for pearling.     

The Coverage of Saudi Arabia in the “Introduction to Sociology” U.S. Textbooks between 2001 and 2015

This article discusses the coverage of Saudi Arabia in “introduction to sociology” textbooks in the context of two variables — the September 11, 2001 attack, and globalization. The study covers 24 major textbooks, all published between 2001 and 2015. The textbooks were chosen with the help and consultation of many colleagues in numerous sociology departments throughout various parts of the United States. Also, the publishers of sociology textbooks were consulted throughout the process of selection. The method of investigation was content analysis which relied heavily upon studying the content of the text. The findings were organized in the following subsections: Islam; the Wahhabi version of Islam; Politics; September 11th and Bin Laden; Women in Saudi Arabia; Human Rights and Civil Rights Abuses; Social Media; Miscellaneous Positive or neutral comments on Saudi Arabia; Visual Sociology; and closing remarks. The finding of the article is more or less negative, as textbooks rarely mentioned positive things about Saudi Arabia.     

First discovery of ancient soft‐stone (chlorite) vessel production in Arabia: Aqir al‐Shamoos (Oman)

Soft‐stone vessels are a prominent feature of ancient culture throughout south‐east Arabia and the Gulf. Chlorite and steatite occur naturally in the al‐Hajar Mountains of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman; but until now, apart from the discovery of a few unfinished pieces, ancient production of soft‐stone vessels had yet to be documented in Arabia. This paper reports the discovery and preliminary analysis of soft‐stone vessel production at the site of Aqir al‐Shamoos. At this small and secluded mountain village, a range of soft‐stone vessels that are well known in the south‐east Arabian Iron Age were produced on a scale far beyond what was needed for local consumption.     

Hafit tombs in ash‐Sharqiyah,Oman: assessing the accuracy and precision of Google Earth remote‐sensing survey and analysing their distribution in the landscape

Google Earth and high‐resolution satellite imagery provide a means of carrying out remote‐sensing survey of Hafit tombs able to cover large areas in short periods of time. While the potential of such research has already been demonstrated in the Wādī Andam area, the accuracy and precision of the methodology are not yet clear. A ground survey carried out by a Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) team in western Ja'alan provides an excellent control to assess the efficacy of the method. The study area was surveyed using Google Earth, and the two datasets were compared. Hafit tombs were identified to a high level of accuracy, but approximately 50% of the structures were not visible, with badly preserved tombs more likely to be missed than those in good condition. Remote sensing can be used in the preliminary stages of survey or more generally to discover and analyse broad patterns of Hafit tomb distribution. Comparisons of the distribution of Hafit tombs in western Ja'alan and Wādī Andam reveal clear similarities: the structures occupy elevated positions adjacent to sizeable wadi channels. The density of tombs is much greater in the western Ja'alan study area, which may suggest that Wādī Batha supported a larger Hafit population than Wādī Andam.     

Growth responses of sessile oak to climate and hydrological regime in the Zbytka Nature Reserve, Czech Republic

Complex of Nature reservation Zbytka is the rest of various fen vegetation in the northeast part of the Czech Republic. It represents an important spring area which provides high quality potable water for more than 150 000 inhabitants. Waterworks utilization was started in the 1960s and the change of land-use practices has had a strong effect on the ecosystem. Oak chronology has been showing different tree growth trends since the start of the waterworks utilization. Also the occurrences of negative pointer years differ markedly before and after initiation of pumping underground water. Dendroclimatological analyses primarily revealed a close relationship between the temperature and tree growth ?? positive influence of spring and summer temperature. The period 1983?C1992 of maximum artesian water pumping is expressed as higher tree-ring increments, but linear model analyses showed that the growth reaction of oak is not due to simple causality between temperature and under-ground water level. The radial increments reacted positively to the combination of high temperature during the vegetation season and low or, the contrary, high depth of underground water level. No direct relationship was detected between tree growth and fluctuation of underground water level; despite of the results dendrochronological data may be useful in historical ground water modelling studies. Results are also crucial for conflict of interests between nature preservation and potable water supply.     

Hands-On Heritage! Establishing Soft Authority over Heritage through Architectural Experiment: A Case Study from Jordan

This study identifies ‘heritage as practice’ as an alternative to ‘authorized’ heritage engagement. Heritage, in this sense, is perceived as a source of inspiration and creativity rather than just an asset to be preserved. ‘Heritage as practice’ is informed by the conventional identification and evaluation of heritage, coupled with the architectural and artistic instincts, capacities, creativity, and commitment found in the field of architecture, to interpret heritage. We label the work produced out of this practice as ‘creative material’ that is subjected to further re-creation when it is used as a platform for community engagement. We examine the mechanisms of these engagements through an academic experiment in which architecture students were asked to analyze the representations of the local heritage site of Umm el-Jimal, Jordan. We argue that shifting from ‘authorized’ engagement to informed ‘instinctual’ one gives the students a soft authority over heritage. However, it is the capacity to creatively engage with and about heritage, and use this to continuously and creatively interpret heritage, that makes this authority valid and just.     

The Early Bronze Age funerary archaeological landscape of western Ja'alan: results of three seasons of investigation

This paper presents the results of three seasons of investigations in the western part of Ja'alan in the southern al‐Sharqyiah Governorate in the Sultanate of Oman. The results highlight the importance of this part of Ja'alan during the Early Bronze Age (EBA), particularly the Hafit period and provide us with important information about the funerary archaeological landscape during this period. The results also reveal important aspects of landscape utilisation and occupation during this time and add to our knowledge of the cultural and economic facets of the earliest Bronze Age societies. The distribution of tombs in the landscape suggests that they were constructed by nomadic or semi‐nomadic pastoral groups that shifted from one location to another in search of grazing for their livestock. The availability and seasonality of natural resources such as water, pasture and game made it necessary for them to mark their tribal territory with their funerary structures.