INVESTIGATION OF OPINIONS OF TEACHERS OF THE HEARING-IMPAIRED CHILDREN ABOUT SERVING AS A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER

Authors

  • Ahmet Serhat Uçar Anadolu University, Faculty of Education, Turkey orcid.org/0000-0001-5910-8751
  • Yunus Yılmaz Anadolu University, Faculty of Education, Turkey orcid.org/0000-0001-6988-798X
  • Kadriye Uçar Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Education, Turkey orcid.org/0000-0002-9522-7624
  • Ramazan Bekar Anadolu University, Faculty of Education, Turkey orcid.org/0000-0002-8043-687X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejse.v7i2.3764

Keywords:

special education, teaching the hearing impaired, undergraduate education, qualitative research

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the opinions of teachers of the hearing-impaired children about serving as a special education teacher. The research was designed as a descriptive case study within the framework of qualitative research methods. Two criteria that the participants to be included in the study should have were determined as follows: graduating from universities’ hearing-impaired teaching programs and serving as a special education classroom teacher in schools affiliated to the MNE. The participants consist of 51 teachers meeting the specified criteria. Semi-structured interviews were held with 5 of the participants, and data were collected from 46 of them through an open-ended questionnaire. Given the pandemic period conditions we currently experience, the e-interviews were conducted using Zoom, while open-ended questionnaires were collected via Google Forms. Descriptive analysis technique was used in the analysis of the research data. The descriptive analysis process consists of four stages: creating a thematic framework, processing of data according to the thematic framework, identification of findings, and interpretation of findings. Study findings revealed that the fact that teachers serve out-of-field they graduated from led them to feel insufficient in terms of professional knowledge and competency. Besides, it was observed that they failed to provide sufficient benefit to the students, they had difficulties communicating with families, they failed to cooperate with the school administrators or other colleagues and could not find the necessary support.

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Author Biographies

  • Ahmet Serhat Uçar, Anadolu University, Faculty of Education, Turkey orcid.org/0000-0001-5910-8751
    Ahmet Serhat Uçar completed his undergraduate education in Anadolu University teaching program for the mentally handicapped (2011). He completed his master's degree in the same program (2016). PhD continues in the same program. Scientific fields of study are inclusive education, vocational education, learning disabilities and teacher training. He works as a research assistant in the special education department of Anadolu University.
  • Yunus Yılmaz, Anadolu University, Faculty of Education, Turkey orcid.org/0000-0001-6988-798X
    Yunus Yılmaz graduated from Anadolu University teaching program for the hearing impaired teaching (2011). He completed his master's degree in the same branch (2016). He continues PhD in the education of the hearing impaired. Scientific fields of study are teacher training and inclusive education. He works as a research assistant in the special education department of Anadolu University.
  • Kadriye Uçar, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Education, Turkey orcid.org/0000-0002-9522-7624
    Kadriye Uçar completed her PhD in Anadolu University special education department in 2020. She works as a research assistant at Aydın Adnan Menderes University. Scientific fields of study are students with special needs, mathematics education and inclusive education.
  • Ramazan Bekar, Anadolu University, Faculty of Education, Turkey orcid.org/0000-0002-8043-687X
    Ramazan Bekar graduated from Karadeniz Technical University teaching program for the hearing impaired teaching (2013). He completed his master's degree in the same branch (2019). He continues PhD in the education of the hearing impaired. Scientific fields of study are children with hearing loss, families of children with hearing loss. He works as a research assistant in the special education department of Anadolu University.

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Published

2021-06-01

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