Education and attitudes of Korean college clothing and textile educators regarding clothing for individuals with physical disabilities

The purpose of this study was to examine Korean educators' attitudes toward clothing needs of individuals with physical disabilities and to analyze special needs content in higher education clothing and textile curricula. The population consisted of clothing and textile educators at 2-year and 4-year institutions of higher education. Self-administered questionnaires were mailed to the entire group of 306 faculty members listed in the Faculty Directory of Textile Engineering and Clothing and Textile Related Departments published by the Korean Textile Industry Association. Data analysis included 168 educators from 16 2-year colleges and 48 4-year universities in South Korea. Research questions were analyzed using frequencies and percentages, chi-square tests, and one-way ANOVA.; Results revealed that participants acquired knowledge about clothing for individuals with disabilities through college coursework and personal research experiences. The main sources of information about this topic were professional journals and college coursework. The majority of educators had obtained limited information about clothing for the disabled through college coursework and did not tend to include this subject matter in their classes. However, full professors, doctoral degree programs, educators with a terminal degree in home economics, or educators with experience in the area of special clothing needs had a higher tendency to teach about clothing for individuals with disabilities in their classes.; Among educators who did not teach about special clothing needs, 50% wanted to teach this topic. Preferred teaching areas in which instruction in clothing for the disabled was considered an appropriate topic were clothing construction, fashion design, socio-psychological aspects of dress, and textiles.; Major reasons given for not teaching about clothing needs for the disabled were that the subject was not included in the curriculum, not related to course lectures, or the educators had a general lack of knowledge in that area. Educators who had acquired more knowledge about clothing needs of the disabled or wanted to teach this topic had higher positive attitudes regarding special clothing needs for individuals with disabilities.