Perception and use of reinforcement by special education teachers

This study aimed to investigate whether special education teachers shared similar difficulties in their understanding of reward and punishment as their mainstream peers. Thirty‐five teachers working in six special education needs schools took part in a mixed methods study to explore their use and understanding of reinforcement principles. The purpose of the mixed methods approach was to triangulate the teachers use and perceived use of different reinforcement strategies within the classroom. Teachers’ had a good grasp of positive reward‐based strategies, but their understanding of the other three types of reinforcement (negative reward, punishment and penalty) was less accurate. There was a clear aversion amongst the sample to discuss punishment with many stating that they do not use it, which contrasted with the observations. Structured continued professional development interventions are required to rectify the discrepancies between belief and evidence.     

The use of evidence-based instructional strategies in special education settings in secondary schools: Development,implementation and outcomes

The lack of effective training and an inability to maintain fidelity are two major barriers to implementing evidence-based practices in schools. This study examined the level of implementation of evidence-based practices by teachers after they participated in a unique training program aimed at enhancing the use of evidence-based practices. The results indicate that five months posttraining, 62% of the evidence-based strategies had been implemented and these levels were maintained 13-months posttraining. While the level of exposure to students of the evidence-based practices was low, significant longitudinal improvements in reading and levels of inclusion were documented.     

Do special education teachers use IEPs to guide instruction?

Teachers in a large urban school system were surveyed with a self-administered questionnaire and a modified nominal group technique to assess their views about IEPs and identify impediments to implementing the IEPs of their students. Teachers indicated that they viewed the IEP more as a legal requirement than as an important guide for planning instruction. Frequently they were not involved in the development of their students' IEPs. The article specifies reasons given by teachers for not adhering to their students IEPs and provides recommendations for increasing teacher involvement in IEP preparation. It also presents recommendations for improving instructional conditions and practices which may facilitate IEP implementation.     

RESEARCH SECTION: Inclusive special education: the role of special education teachers in Finland

This study concentrates on the work of special education teachers in mainstream education in Finland, where these professionals work with children from various classes, usually in a separate room. The research reported in this article by Marjatta Takala of the University of Helsinki, Raija Pirttimaa of the University of Oulu and Minna Törmänen, who is studying for her PhD at the University of Helsinki, involved sending a questionnaire to 133 special education teachers and undertaking observations. The work of the special education teachers was revealed to consist of three elements: teaching, consulting and background work. Teaching, often focusing on giving support to children who had challenges in the main academic subjects, was realised in small groups, in co‐operative or individual settings. Consultation mainly concerned co‐operation and discussion. Behavioural challenges needed a targeted approach. The main problems experienced by the teachers were the lack of time for consultation and co‐operation, an unclear work profile and too much work. The work of special education teachers was partly inclusive, but also entailed segregative elements. The authors discuss the potential for promoting further steps towards inclusion as well as possible changes in organising special educational provision at school level.     

Self-instructional videocourses: a cost-effective approach to in-service training of teachers in special education

The article describes employing a short self-instructional videocourse as a form of in-service education for teachers of children with severe learning difficulties. The study examines the feasibility of training teachers to implement simple teaching games in the classroom, aimed at enhancing the basic number skills of children with severe learning difficulties. Teachers'attitudes to the materials were positive, and the videocourse was effective in helping to improve the counting ability of a sample of thirty children. The provision of training opportunities for teachers using videocourses is supported. The article concludes with a discussion of some of the features of the self-instructional model employed in the study.     

Masters of weaving: the complex role of special education teachers

Special education teachers work under more difficult, more intense, and more demanding conditions than mainstream teachers. Relations between teachers, pupils, and parents are more complex than in mainstream education due to the intensity, intimacy, vulnerability, and commitment involved. Teachers require special skills so they can practice atypical teaching approaches. They require in-depth knowledge of all their pupils’ special needs and must know what is required to teach them. They must provide a supportive educational environment that encourages learning, know abnormal developmental characteristics, analyze tasks, and be up to date with current relevant teaching methods. Our understanding of the inner world of special education teachers is deepened through narrative research. In education, narrative research facilitates the close examination of agents of education by focusing on their discourse. It provides an opportunity for their voices to be heard and offers empowerment. Nine experienced special education teachers aged in their mid-40s participated in the study. Most worked in special education and integrated classrooms. The research tools were open-ended life-story interviews In stage one of the analysis, the categories were defined after reading the interviews in as open and unbiased a manner as possible, and the primary themes developed. Stage two involved classifying and formulating the themes based on these categories. The findings, which describe the narrator’s own experiences, feelings, and viewpoints, are presented in the narrator-participants’ own language. A comprehensive, multifaceted picture of the research participants’ reality is thus obtained. The study revealed that teachers who start out as idealists and want to ‘save the world,’ or feel confident at least in their own abilities and wish to work hard for children with special needs, are often rudely awakened early in their careers because of the day-to-day complexity of their work. Special education is complex because it involves multiple roles and tasks and because teachers have to tackle diverse problems simultaneously. The teachers seemed keen to remain in the profession, perhaps because special education offers a satisfying career. This study was not just about special education teachers; it involved thinking about teaching differently. Metaphors can be a way to unlock the ontology and epistemology of teachers’ knowledge. Using a novel metaphor, ‘Masters of Weaving,’ the article invites educators all over the world to participate in a discourse with many voices. In a complex and dynamic world, there are no unequivocal answers.     

The training of teachers in special education

ABSTRACT

The aims and content of training in special education have been extended in recent years as a result of the practice of integrated education and also the recognition of a larger group of children with special educational needs. Provision in ordinary schools is being seen as the development of whole‐school policies for curricula and organization, including the development of systems of support within and sometimes, across schools. These developments have implications for the training of special education teachers and also for the pre‐service and in‐service education and training of all teachers and for the variety of strategies to be employed.     

Transforming the embodied dispositions of pre-service special education teachers

Teacher education programs seek to foster dispositions that welcome student differences in race, culture, language and ability. However, pre-service teachers’ dispositions are difficult to transform because they tend to be aligned with the field of schooling where differences are punished or excluded. This study examines an activity for transforming pre-service teachers’ communicative habitus that was inspired by Bourdieu’s theory that habitus or dispositions are unconsciously embodied and therefore require a bodily counter-training for change. The activity instructed 17 pre-service Special Education teachers to communicate an experience through sound alone rather than words in order to challenge teachers’ deeply embodied communicative norms and open them up to the possibilities of non-normative communication. Follow up discussions, written reflections and videotaped think-alouds provided opportunities for explicit pedagogy and reflection. In this article, we discuss findings and implications from a recent implementation of this activity.     

West Indies: Effective teachers: views and actions of Caribbean special education teachers in training

Winnifred M. Hall (Faculty of Education, the University of the West Indies, Jamaica) and Mary Dixon (Department of Special Education, Mico College, Kingston, Jamaica) consider the views of Caribbean special-education teacher-trainees on the characteristics of effective teachers; examine their patterns of interaction during practice; and suggest revisions to the structure and content of their training programmes.     

特殊教育教师和普通教师心理素质的对比研究

为了探讨特殊教育教师和普通教师在所需心理素质上的共同性和差异性,本研究以243名特殊教育教师和233名普通教师为被试进行调查。研究结果显示特殊教育教师和普通教师共同认定公正、爱心等六项心理素质为最重要的心理素质,并在耐心、观察力等11项心理素质上存在显著差异。     

Impact of the Good Behavior Game on special education teachers

This study tested effects of a program that offers teachers universal classroom management strategies, on teachers’ burnout symptoms and self-efficacy, and their teaching behaviors. Data were collected from 147 teachers (mean age = 38.4 years, SD = 10.8) in 15 special secondary education schools for students with emotional and behavioral problems, at the start and end of the school year. Schools were randomly assigned to the experimental condition or a care-as-usual condition. Results show that the program impacted beneficially on self-reported levels of emotional exhaustion, and self-efficacy in engaging students and in classroom management, but not on teaching behaviors. Implications of this study for the professional development of teachers in special education and research are discussed.     

Improving instruction of future teachers: A multimedia approach that supports implementation of evidence-based vocabulary practices

Teacher education efforts must prepare future teachers to implement evidence-based practices that are effective for all students. A strand of practices necessary for reading competence is vocabulary instruction; however, teachers spend less time teaching vocabulary as opposed to other literacy skills. In this experimental study, researchers investigated a multimedia-based intervention, which pairs video with a Content Acquisition Podcast (i.e., video plus CAP) to teach preservice teachers (N = 49) to implement vocabulary practices with struggling students. Those who watched the video plus CAP used significantly more teaching behaviors associated with an evidence-based vocabulary practice during instruction than the comparison group.     

Analysis of Malay word structure by pre-service special education teachers: foundation-level knowledge for remedial instruction

Pre-service special educators' Malay word structure knowledge was assessed through their analysis of words. A total of 69 participants analysed a vocabulary list based on a set of criteria formulated from the Malay language word structure. Results indicated that they were able to count syllables and phonemes, and identify types of affixations; however, they were unable to identify syllabic structures and word categories accurately. The morphemic and phonetic structure of words also had a moderating effect on their analysis of syllabic structures. The results implied that pre-service teachers of a transparent language still needed explicit instruction in grapheme–phoneme skills, phonic skills, morphological structure and word categories, but less instruction on phonological structure.     

Evaluation of the individualized education program: A comprehensive approach for special service teams

A comprehensive approach to evaluating the Individualized Education Program (IEP) is delineated. The approach has been developed by the authors and used by special service teams in numerous public school districts. It consists of four interrelated evaluation strategies: evaluability assessment, process evaluation, outcome evaluation, and consumer evaluation. Utilization of each strategy by a special service team at a particular point during the IEP process results in obtainment of specific kinds of evaluation information that can be useful in program development, modification, or outcome determination. In the paper, each evaluation strategy is defined and discussed. Also, practical considerations for installation of the total evaluation approach are enumerated, with particular reference to problems created in settings where partial approaches to IEP evaluation already have been implemented.