Developing Personal and Social Skills and Their Impact on Reducing Students with Learning Disabilities’ Negative Attitudes Towards Their Learning Environment

Personal and social skills for students affect their attitudes towards their learning environment. The study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a training programme for developing personal and social skills using a quasi-experimental design. The study applied instruments prepared by the researchers: the Emotional and Social Skills Scale, Attitudes Towards the Learning Environment Scale, and Diagnostic Assessment Scale for Reading Difficulties, to reduce negative attitudes towards the learning environment. The study’s sample was 50 students divided into two groups: treatment and control. Each group comprised 13 male and 12 female students with learning disabilities at the primary stage; their ages ranged between 11.5 and 12.4 years. The results revealed that the training sessions and the activities of the training programme had a positive impact at the 0.05 level. The programme developed positive attitudes and reduced negative attitudes towards the learning environment for students with learning disabilities. Training programmes play a crucial role in enhancing and energising schools’ awareness of learners’ emotions. The study emphasised the importance of developing personal and social skills, such as self-awareness, self-control, motivation, empathy, and social skills, and how these contribute to improving academic achievement and fostering a positive perception of the learning environment and its components.