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The Perception and Experience of Participants in an Online Community for Special Education Teachers about Parents

  • Journal of Special Education: Theory and Practice
  • Abbr : JSPED
  • 2020, 21(1), pp.107-137
  • DOI : 10.19049/JSPED.2020.21.1.06
  • Publisher : Research Institute of the Korea Special Education
  • Research Area : Social Science > Education
  • Received : February 11, 2020
  • Accepted : March 10, 2020
  • Published : March 31, 2020

HONG, JEONG-SUK 1

1대구대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

[Purpose] This study aimed to identify the perception and experience of special education teachers who participated in a leading online community for special education teachers, regarding parents and their significance and implications. [Method] Of the posts uploaded by December 31, 2019, those relating to parents were collated and analyzed based on the comparative sequential method. From the data analysis, 28 subthemes, 11 themes, and 2 categories were identified. [Results] The two categories were “special education teachers’difficulties in their relationship with parents” and “a sense of reward and self-reflection experienced as special education teachers in their relationship with parents.” The main contents of the 11 themes were as follows: (1) inherent discomfort with parents, (2) a gap between expectations for the role of parents and reality, (3) barriers to the formation of partnerships—lack of trust and respect, (4) an expression of a distorted sense of entitlement—unreasonable demands and the infringement of teachers’ rights, (5) difficult communication, (6) psychological withdrawal and exhaustion caused by negative experiences, (7) negative relationships with parents that adversely affect students’ right to learn, (8) a sense of reward felt in relationships with parents, (9) the need for solidarity with parents and learning, (10) the need to empathize with parents, and (11) the need to protect special education teachers’ professional identity and rights. [Conclusion] Special education teachers tended to make posts centered around their negative experiences with parents in the online community. Therefore, the analysis of their positive perceptions and experiences about parents was quite limited in this study. On further consideration of this point, special education teachers were found to face various difficulties in their relationship with parents. Based on the study’s results, the following three broad implications are presented: First, the infringement of teachers’ rights by parents leads to the violation of not only special education teachers’ human rights but also students’ right to education. In this sense, it seems urgent to provide proper measures. Second, nontenured special education teachers reported experiencing growing difficulties in their relationship with parents. This requires the creation of stable education conditions for nontenured special education teachers through the leadership of school principals. Fundamentally, the government should actively examine the measure of raising the ratio of tenured teachers and partially employing nontenured special education teachers if necessary. Third, learning family support systems both inside and outside the education system should be considered a priority in the course of training prospective special education teachers and in skill improvement for incumbent special education teachers. In addition, their capability to counsel parents should be enhanced. In addition, based on the study results, the significance and implications of special education teachers’ perception of and experience with parents are discussed and suggested.

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