Perceived competencies and concerns of Thai general and special education teachers towards the behaviour problems of their students

The study explores and compares current teacher competencies as well as their concerns relating to behaviour management practices with students in a sample of Thai classrooms. Four hundred twenty teachers from public schools including general schools and special education schools were randomly selected and invited to participate in the study. A self-report questionnaire on teacher competencies and concerns were sent and 74.76% collected (314 teachers consisting of 248 general teachers and 66 special education teachers). Descriptive statistics were used to report on the basic data set. Two-way ANOVA was used to compare teacher competencies and concerns between types of teachers. Results found that there was no difference in perceived competencies in dealing with students with behaviour problems between special education teachers and general teachers. Most participants reported that they tended to use preventative strategies more than positive reactive strategies and negative reactive strategies such as corporal punishment in managing the behaviour problems in their classrooms. Both special education teachers and general teachers reported that they did not believe their knowledge and skills to be sufficient in dealing with student behaviour problems. The need for support from parents was reported as a major concern for both general and special education teachers.