Análisis de las actitudes hacia las personas con retraso mental y con dificultades de aprendizaje, en el alumnado de magisterio de la Universidad de León

Abstract

We analyzed the attitudes towards mentally-retarded persons and people with learning disabilities. The sample was formed by 336 students from the seven special fields of the Education Degree. Generally speaking, the results showed fairly positive attitudes towards both of the studied populations. Third-year students of the special fields of Special Education and Hearing and Language showed the most favorable attitudes. Furthermore, these are the only special fields where we found differences between freshmen and third-year students (the latter showed better attitudes). Students of the special fields of Primary Education and Physical Education showed less positive attitudes. The results suggest that the attitudes of future teachers are influenced by specialized training and the perception of their competence in order to see to the educational needs of mentally-retarded persons or people with learning disabilities. Lastly, women showed more favorable attitudes than men.