The caring behaviors of nine special education and nine regular education teachers from nine middle schools in the University of West Georgia service area were compared. One hundred thirty one regular education students and 66 special education students were asked their perceptions regarding the caring behaviors of their teachers. Based on the data, special education teachers definitely practice more caring behaviors. The researchers concluded that the difference in caring behaviors between special and regular education teachers could be a concern since special education students are often included in regular education classrooms.

        Current literature indicates that increasing emphasis is being placed upon the concept of caring and its link to student achievement. Teaching and learning take place only when students are convinced that the teacher cares about them (Bulach, Brown, & Potter, 1998; Rich, 1997). Bosworth (1995), who interviewed over 100 middle school students to determine their understanding of caring, stated:

        Caring in the classroom has been defined by researchers and theorists in a variety of ways: (a) being attentive and responsive to others’ needs (Alder & Moulton, 1998; Anfara & Miron, 1996; Bosworth, 1995; Noddings, 1983; Tice, 1992), (b) increasing others’ independence and success (Bluestein, 2000; Bosworth, 1995; Noddings, 1992; Strike & Soltis, 1992; Tronto, 1993; Zehm & Kottler, 1993); (c) making learning meaningful to students (Alder & Moulton, 1998; Banks, 1991; Bosworth, 1995; Brown, 1995; Cummins, 1993; Good & Brophy, 1991; Ladson-Billings, 1992; Noddings, 1992), (d) listening to others to identify and empathize with them (Alder & Moulton, 1998; Beilke & Yssel,1998; Bosworth, 1995; Tice, 1995), (e) promoting belonging and respect (Bluestein, 2000; Bosworth, 1995; Corbett, 1992), (f) giving positive recognition (Bluestein, 2000; Brown, 1995), and (g) treating students with special needs equally to those without disabilities (Alder & Moulton, 1998; Beilke & Yssel,1998). Each of these definitions may be applicable in the sense that the meaning of caring can be defined only by the recipients (Alder & Moulton, 1998).

        While all teachers should be trained to create a caring and nurturing environment, that may not be the case. University programs to prepare special education and regular education teachers often have been separate and have different foci (White & White, 1992). Both special education teachers and regular education teachers are charged with the mission of facilitating student success in academics, but are likely to approach this task in varied ways. How they treat students, however, should be the same (Alder & Moulton, 1998). If it is not, the researchers of the present study suspect that students may experience difficulty in the transition from the special education classroom to the inclusion classroom. Bluestein (2000) indicated that so much energy and instructional time is diverted to dealing with students’ survival behaviors during a teaching day. "Wouldn’t it be more efficient to establish classrooms that are caring and emotionally safe places, where these self-protective measures are unnecessary?" (Bluestein, p. 35)

        Caring is an "umbrella concept" that encompasses a range of topics (Chaskin & Rauner, 1995a). Caring responds to basic psychosocial needs such as independence, belonging, safety and support, as well as individual and social competency. In order for caring to be a useful concept to guide research and inform practice, the dimensions of caring, its manifestations, and its role in adolescent development must be determined. Also, if caring is to be used to guide policy and design effective environments and interventions for young people, then its value in schools must be established. According to Chaskin & Rauner, schools are primary arenas for the nurture and promotion of caring, the context for genuine education. In the absence of caring teacher – student relationships, teachers must rely on discipline and classroom management techniques. Teachers must risk establishing relationships with their students (Green, 1997) if they want to spend less time controlling students and more time teaching them.

        This has become even more important as a result of the recent movement to serve more special education students in the regular education classroom. Does the use of caring behaviors by special education teachers differ from those used by regular education classroom teachers? Traditionally, special education students received most if not all of their instruction in the special education classroom and had minimal contact with regular education teachers and peers. Today, the ultimate goal for special education students, whenever possible, is to be educated with their normally achieving peers in the regular education setting (Lerner, 1997). This could be problematic if regular education teachers differ from special education teachers in their use of caring behaviors.

Purpose of This Study

        Since university training programs for special education and regular education tend to differ in focus, there is the possibility that there is a difference in classroom climate as evidenced by caring behaviors. Special education students who are included in these regular education classrooms might experience difficulty as a result of this difference. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which regular and special education teachers practiced caring behaviors.

Participants

        The student participants in this study were from nine middle schools in the State University of West Georgia service area. Two teachers from each school were involved. One teacher taught special education and one was a regular education teacher for a total of 18 female teachers. The special education teachers were enrolled in graduate level special education classes at the State University of West Georgia during the 1999-2000 school year when the data were collected. Each special education teacher who agreed to administer the caring behaviors survey to her students was asked to first receive permission from her school administrator for her students to participate in the study. Next, each special education teacher asked a regular education teacher in her school who matched as closely as possible on gender, age, years of teaching experience, and highest educational level if she would be willing to administer the survey to one class of her students. Only students whose parents or guardians completed written permission slips were permitted to participate in the study. The number of participating students was 131 regular education and 66 special education.

Instrumentation and Procedures

A caring behaviors survey instrument developed in research by Bulach, Brown, and Potter (1998) was used to collect comparison data. The survey consists of 26 items that measure caring behaviors. A factor analysis conducted by Bulach, Brown, and Potter revealed that the survey measures fivefactors of caring behaviors as follows: (a) anxiety, (b) listening,
(c) rewards, (d) friends, and (e) criticism. The reliability of the survey instrument for the population studied using a Cronbach Alpha was +. 84. The opinions of 116 practicing teachers and administrators were used to determine that the instrument had construct validity.

        For the current study, students were asked to respond to each item in terms of how often their teacher performed that behavior. For scoring purposes, a score of "1" was assigned to a response of "Never" and a score of "5" was assigned to a response of "Always." Scores of "2, 3, and 4" were assigned to the responses for the remainder of the scale. Therefore, on 24 of the items a response of "4 or 5" indicated that the students perceived that the teacher exhibited the caring behaviors. A response of "1 or 2" indicated that according to the students’ perceptions, the teacher did not exhibit the caring behaviors. Two of the 26 items, "says things that hurt my feelings" and "is sarcastic with me", were reverse scored. High scores of "4 or 5" for these two items indicated that the students perceived the teacher as less caring than the teacher who received scores of "1 or 2" from her students.

        Descriptive statistics (i.e., means) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were the statistical procedures for determining if significant differences existed on the five categories of caring behaviors (i.e., anxiety, listening, rewards, friends, and criticism) for special education versus regular education teachers. Special education teachers in every instance exhibited more caring behaviors than regular education teachers as indicated by the higher special education teacher means on all five caring behavior factors (i.e., criticism, listening, rewards, friend, and anxiety). Statistical significance (see Table 1), however, occurred only on those behaviors associated with "criticism" (p<.000) and "listening" (p<.002). With a mean score of 2.5, regular education teachers were much less likely to exhibit positive behaviors associated with the criticism factor (see Appendix A) than special education teachers whose mean score was 3.8. The lower mean score indicated that students of regular education teachers perceived that their teachers did not exhibit these behaviors as much as special education teachers. Similar results occurred with listening behaviors, although the disparity was not as great. The ANOVA's for the remaining three factors were not statistically significant as follows: "rewards" (p=.065), "being a friend" (p=.084), and "anxiety" (p=.090).
 
 

A comparison of caring behavior factors for students of special education teachers versus regular classroom teachers
 

Type of Student	Factor	N	Mean	SD	F-Score	P
Regular education  Special education	Criticism	131  66	2.5  3.8	.72  .75	125.4	.000**
Regular education  Special education	Listening	131  66	3.3  3.7	.81  .86	9.9	.002**
Regular education  Special education	Rewards	131  66	3.2  3.4	.67  .77	3.4	.065
Regular education  Special education	Friend	131  66	3.2  3.4	.75  .67	3.0	.084
Regular education  Special education	Anxiety	131  66	4.2  4.3	.52  .52	2.9	.090

** P < .01
** The effect size for criticism was 1.78 and .48 for listening.
 

        Kendall’s Tau was used to determine if there were any statistically significant differences on the 26 individual caring behaviors. Statistically significant differences, indicating that special education teachers are perceived as more caring, were found on 12 of the 26 individual caring behaviors (see Table 2). Those behaviors associated with criticism showed the widest disparity. The use of sarcasm (p<.000) and saying things that hurts students’ feelings (p<.000) seldom are used by special education and often used by regular education teachers. Special education teachers also scored significantly higher than regular education teachers on the following caring behaviors: (a) greets me when I enter room (p<.05), (b) rewards or compliments me (p<.000), (c) informs parents on progress (p<.002), (d) recognizes me for achievement (p<.03), (d) interested in what I do outside (p<.000), (e) makes decisions that affect me (p<.002), (f) returns work with comments (p<.004), (g) asks me to help in the classroom (p<.02), (h) provides treats on occasion (p<.006), and (i) have fun at his/her expense (p<.03).The only caring behavior where regular education teachers scored significantly higher than special education teachers was for displaying students’ work (p<.007). Regular education teachers with a mean score of 3.0 display school work more often than special education teachers with a score of 2.5.
 
 

A comparison of individual behaviors for students of special education teachers versus regular classroom teachers
 

Type of Student	Teacher Behavior	N	Mean	SD	Tau	P
Regular education  Special education	Says things that hurt my feelings	131  66	1.5  4.4	.8  1.1	152	.000**
Regular education  Special education	Is sarcastic with me	131  66	2.6  4.1	1.3  1.3	7.7	.000**
Regular education  Special education	Greets me when I enter room	131  66	3.4  3.7	1.1  1.1	2.0	.05*
Regular education  Special education	Rewards or compliments me	131  66	3.1  3.9	1.1  1.1	4.3	.000**
Regular education  Special education	Informs my parents on progress	131   66	2.9  3.5	1.4  1.2	3.1	.002**
Regular education  Special education	Recognizes me for achievement	131  66	3.2  3.6	1.2  1.3	2.2	.03*
Regular education  Special education	Interested in what I do outside	131  66	2.7  3.6	1.3  1.3	4.5	.000**
Regular education  Special education	Make decisions that affect me	131  66	3.5  4.0	1.2  1.3	3.1	.002**
Regular education  Special education	Returns work with comments	131  66	3.5  4.0	1.0  1.1	2.9	.004**
Regular education  Special education	Asks me to help in the classroom	131  66	3.1  3.4	1.0  1.2	2.3	.02*
Regular education  Special education	Provides treats on occasion	131  66	3.9  4.2	1.1  1.1	2.7	.006**
Regular education  Special education	Have fun at his/her expense	131  66	3.4  3.7	1.2  1.4	2.2	.03*
Regular education  Special education	Displays my work	131  66	3.0  2.5	1.1  1.4	2.7	.007**

** P < .01  negative behaviors have been reverse scored
** The effect size varied from a high of 3.18 to a low of .27.
 
 

        Results of the present study contribute to an understanding of middles school students’ perceptions of caring behaviors as demonstrated by their teachers. More specifically, this study supports the fact that special education students and regular education students perceive their teachers to employ different caring behaviors. The following discussion provides some insights as to what may have contributed to the differences in the perceptions of the two groups of students in this study.

Criticism

        The caring domain associated with criticism is of particular concern and was responsible for the greatest disparity between regular and special education teachers. Regular education teachers on such behaviors as "my teacher says things that hurt me" and "my teacher is sarcastic" received an average score of 2.5 compared to special education teachers with a score of 3.75. Students obviously notice when teachers are polite and think of these teachers as caring (Bosworth, 1995). In contrast, when teachers curse students and talk behind their backs, the students perceive the teachers as uncaring. As a result, students do not believe that they are "competent partners in the educational process" and display a lack of trust in the school’s pedagogical and administrative practices (Anfara & Miron, 1996).

        Students of regular education teachers in the present study perceived their teachers as being sarcastic and making hurtful remarks in their presence. It appears incredible that any teacher would use sarcasm to intentionally hurt students. Perhaps, if teachers are having a difficult day or are overly tired or stressed, then their voice tone may not be as pleasant as it could be and thus, may be perceived as sarcasm by the students. Bulach (2000) noted that sarcasm intended to hurt is not a good practice and that teachers must know their students well enough to know if teacher sarcasm intended as humor will be perceived appropriately by their students. Middle school students may be especially sensitive, because they want to be adults but often react childlike and emotionally. An outward tough appearance may mask inward sensitivity. Therefore, middle school teachers may believe that the students are ready for adult-like sarcastic humor, when in actuality the intended humor is perceived as sarcasm.

        On the other hand, special education teachers who often work with students in smaller groups and on an individual basis may be more aware of their students’ sensitivity and previous academic failures. Also, special education teachers know that many of their students usually interpret remarks and conversation literally. As a result, special education teachers may be less likely to use sarcastic humor for fear it can be misinterpreted. As Lavoie (1996) mentioned, use sarcasm with caution in the presence of students with learning disabilities. A student with learning disabilities who observes a teacher using sarcasm will pick an inappropriate time to emulate sarcastic humor (e.g., when the principal enters the classroom).

        Two individual caring behaviors with regard to appropriate recognition of students received statistical significance in favor of special education teachers. The special education students studied indicated that their teachers recognized them for academic achievement and accomplishments outside of the classroom more than regular education teachers did for their students. Smaller class size may enable special education teachers more opportunity to get to know their students and individually recognize their academic achievement. Special education students are not as likely to participate in social (Larkin & Ellis, 1998) and extracurricular activities (Deshler, Alley, Warner, & Schumaker, 1981) as are their regular education peers.

Demonstrate Willingness to Listen

        Findings from this study also indicate that special education teachers are perceived by their students to exhibit more caring behaviors related to listening than do regular education teachers as perceived by their students. Once again, smaller class sizes and opportunities for individual attention may facilitate listening by special education teachers. Special education students may be able to take advantage of opportunities to approach their teachers regarding academic and/or other problems. Teachers recognize that they must deal with student problems and concerns before students can be willing to put forth their best effort academically. In the regular education classroom where there are likely to be larger classes and students who excel academically, students who are having problems or concerns may have less opportunity to talk privately with their teachers. Regular education teachers may spend more time tending to whole class needs rather than individual student needs. Therefore, regular education students may perceive that their teachers are not as willing to listen as they would like.

        Adolescents recognize that listening is a crucial component of a caring classroom teacher (Alder & Moulton, 1998; Beilke & Yssel, 1998; Bosworth, 1995; Tice, 1995). Anfara and Miron (1996) noted that adolescents who described their teachers as uncaring said that the teachers did not listen to students. The adolescents in the same study who perceived their teachers as caring stated that the teachers displayed caring by helping students and talking with them about academic matters, personal problems and the importance of performing well in school. As a result, students who perceived their teachers as caring as demonstrated by listening also described a trusting classroom environment.

        Letting students make decisions that affect them was one individual caring behavior in the category of listening in which special education teachers scored significantly higher than regular education teachers. Encouraging and giving students opportunities to make decisions that affect them contributes to a trusting classroom environment. Perhaps the individualized nature of special education and the smaller class size also contributes to this finding. Since the instruction of each special education student is guided by his/her individualized educational plan/program (IEP), special education teachers may have more flexibility in letting their students make decisions. In contrast, the instruction of regular education students is driven by state and national standards. In order for the regular education class as a whole to make academic progress by fulfilling these standards, teachers may feel compelled to make many of the instructional decisions. Also, with larger classes, regular education teachers may find it more difficult to have well-managed classrooms.

Being a Friend

        Special education and regular education students did not perceive their teachers as significantly different with regard to the category of being a friend. Yet, special education students surveyed believed that their teachers demonstrated significantly more caring on two of the individual behaviors within the category of friend: (a) returns work promptly with comments, and (b) have fun at his/her expense. Smaller class size enables the special education teacher to grade work quickly and provide more frequent feedback in the form of written and oral comments. One of the researchers, a former special education teacher, has noticed in her observations of special education teachers that individual students often receive teacher feedback on the spot. Regular education teachers with larger numbers of students may be able to give some oral feedback during guided practice, but otherwise must collect student papers to grade and return the next day or later in the week.

        Special education teachers recognize that their students inherently are not willing to take risks(Larkin & Ellis, 1998). Due to numerous academic failures in the past, these students do not want to take chances and fail in front of their peers. In order to get their students to take a risk with their learning, special education teachers explicitly point out when they have made a mistake. When students see their teachers laughing at their own mistakes and encourage students to laugh along, then the students may become less fearful of their own mistakes.

Reduce Anxiety

        For the category of reducing anxiety, special education and regular education students did not perceive their teachers as being significantly different. Only one individual behavior in this category received a significantly higher score by special education students than by the regular education students. That behavior was "greets me when I enter room." Special education students often enter their classrooms individually or in small groups where their teachers can easily call them by name. Regular education students, particularly at the middle school level, change classes at the same time and therefore, enter the classroom in large numbers. In order to begin instruction as soon as possible, regular education teachers may utilize classroom management procedures to help students prepare for class rather than spending time greeting them.

Reward Students For Their Appropriate Behavior

        The category of rewarding students for their appropriate behavior was not significantly different as perceived by special education students and their regular education peers. Yet, each group of students rated their respective teachers significantly more caring on different individual behaviors within this category. Special education students rated their teachers as more caring for the following behaviors: (a) rewards or compliments me, (b) informs parents on progress, (c) asks me to help in the classroom, and (d) provides treats on occasion. Special education students who have previously experienced academic failure are not always as motivated as they should be to do their best in school. If the special education teacher did not give them extrinsic encouragement through rewards or compliments, the role of classroom helper, or treats, these students are more likely to shut down. Also, if special education students know that their teachers will be informing parents of positive classroom experiences, then they may be more willing to exert their best efforts. Smaller classes and opportunities for individualized attention enable special education teachers to perform these caring behaviors frequently.

        The only caring behavior where regular education teachers scored significantly higher that special education teachers was for displaying students’ work. Regular education teachers with a mean score of 3.0 display school work more often than special education teachers with a score of 2.5. This finding may not be surprising in light of the fact that special education teachers do not always have their own classrooms. In crowded schools, special education teachers may share classrooms with other teachers or use different classrooms as they become vacant during various class periods. Certainly, regular education teachers are to be commended for displaying students’ work as a reward for progress in academic achievement. Walls and hallways covered with student work are signs of a caring community (Huntington, 1996; Kohn, 1996).

        In conclusion, the findings of this study indicate that special education teachers exhibit more caring behaviors than regular education teachers as perceived by their students, particularly with regard to the factors of criticism and listening. Special education students also perceived that their teachers demonstrated significantly more caring on 12 of the 26 individual behaviors surveyed as compared with the perceptions regular education students had of their teachers. Special education students believed that their teachers did not use sarcasm or say hurtful things to students as often as regular education students indicated that their teachers did and said these things. Special education students also noted that their teachers exhibited more caring behaviors in a number of other areas more often than the regular education students indicated that their teachers did.

        Whether special education teachers really are more caring than regular education teachers could be argued, since this study investigated student perceptions and not actual behavior. What is important is the findings of this study indicate that special education students and regular education students perceive that their respective teachers have different caring behaviors. At least part of these perceptions may be based on the fact that special education teachers often have smaller class sizes and greater opportunities to provide individual attention. Also, to some extent, students in special education may have different needs for teacher caring due to students’ previous academic failures. Middle school students who are successful in the regular education classrooms, can thrive in environments with less individual attention and less extrinsic motivation.

        Today an emphasis is placed on helping special education students, whenever possible to be educated with their normally achieving peers. Therefore, when students are academically ready to reduce or leave the care of the special education teacher behind, regular education teachers must be prepared to meet the needs of these special students entering their classrooms. If regular education teachers are exhibiting different or less caring behaviors as perceived by their students, then the special education students will not feel comfortable making the transition to the regular classroom.

        There is a need for both special education and regular education teachers to assist special education students in making smooth transitions from caring behaviors in the special education classroom to different caring behaviors in the regular education classroom. Although there is no one best way to care (Morse, 1994) or promote caring by example (Chaskin & Rauner, 1995a), examining the caring behaviors of special education teachers and regular education teachers offers insights into particular behaviors that students deem effective.

        This study contributes to the body of literature that illustrates the difference that teacher caring makes from the middle school special education and regular education students’ perspectives. The limitations of the study include surveying a small number of students within a limited geographical region, surveying students of only one regular education and one special education teacher per school, and surveying only students of female teachers. Future research should address the limitations of this study. In addition, future research should concentrate on elementary and high school students to determine if special education and regular education students prior to and after middle school perceive similar differences in the caring behaviors of their respective teachers as do middle school students. Future studies should utilize other methodologies (e.g., individual student and teacher interviews, and/or student and teacher focus group interviews) along with the caring behaviors survey to provide more elaboration on what perceived differences in teacher caring means to both special education and regular education students.

        Both special and regular educators must commit the necessary time, effort, and resources to exhibit caring behaviors that impact their students. Teachers can serve as effective models through caring, respectful interactions with their students. This notion is emphasized in the words of Hiam Ginott (Milwaukee Public Schools, 1990. p.30).
 

I have come to a frightening conclusion that,
I am the decisive element in the classroom.
It is my personal approach that creates the climate.
It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous.
I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.
I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
In all situations it is my response that decides whether
A crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or de-humanized.

Educators must respond to the need for caring among their students and consider ways to create caring environments (Miller, Stall, & Webb, 1999).
 
 

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Reduce Anxiety:

create an environment where students feel safe
enforce the same rules for all students
be positive
reinforce good behavior
maintain an orderly classroom
cue them when they don’t understand
greet students when they enter the classroom
call them by name
maintain eye contact
teach at their ability level

Demonstrate Willingness to Listen

ask students for their opinions
get students to make decisions that affect them
make time for students before and after school
take a personal interest in students outside the classroom

Reward Students for Their Appropriate Behaviors:

display students work
provide treats and goodies
let students help in the classroom
inform parents about student progress

Be a Friend

eat lunch with students
return work promptly with comments
let students have fun at the teacher’s expense
intervene when students are being picked on

Recognize Students’ Behaviors

use sarcasm with students
use negative criticism with students
recognize students for extra-curricular achievement
recognize students for academic achievement.

Adapted from Bulach, Brown, & Potter, (1998); Bulach, (2000)