Teachers' intended classroom management strategies for students with ADHD: a cross-cultural study between South Korea and Germany

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to investigate Korean and German teachers' intentions of using classroom management strategies (CMS) for students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB). PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE Participants were 639 Korean and 317 German teachers. Disproportional stratified sampling was used. As a result, 264 Korean and 264 German matched teachers were obtained. Kos's questionnaire was slightly modified. The survey instrument was distributed from September 2012 to December 2013. SPSS 22.0 was used to analyze the data. RESULTS Korean teachers were more influenced by norms of colleagues and parents than German teachers were. Teachers in both countries have more favorable attitudes towards positive-oriented CMS compared to negative-oriented CMS, and perceived themselves as being able to control all CMS in the classroom. The TRA proved to better predict both Korean and German teachers' intentions of using CMS compared to the TPB. CONCLUSIONS This study is an important step towards understanding teachers' CMS in the cultural context of Korea and Germany. The findings of this study will be an essential resource to develop an ADHD management manual based on theoretical and cultural perspectives, so that teachers in both countries are prepared for students with ADHD in their classroom, rather than give up on them.