This study intends to inspect private kindergarten teachers' problems and strategies for solving them in the operation of inclusive class through in-depth interviews with teachers. For these purposes, the research topics are like followings.
1. What...
This study intends to inspect private kindergarten teachers' problems and strategies for solving them in the operation of inclusive class through in-depth interviews with teachers. For these purposes, the research topics are like followings.
1. What are problems private kindergarten teachers have in the operation of inclusive class?
2. What are strategies for solving problems private kindergarten teachers have in the operation of inclusive class?
The participants of this study are 10 teachers with more than 5 years' teaching experience including more than 3 years' career in the inclusive class operation at private kindergartens in Seoul. As for the research method, data was collected through 1-2 times in-depth interviews per teacher from 12th, Mar. to 6th, April, 2010. Transcription was done on the interview contents after field note and recording. And, additional data collection was performed through calling or E-mail after interviews. The analysis of collected data was performed through the steps of data synthesis, domain analysis, data classification, taxonomy analysis, interpretation of classified data. And the final categories were composed of problems private kindergarten teachers have in the operation of the inclusive class and strategies for solving problems.
The results of this study are like following:
First, in the operation of inclusive class, private kindergarten teachers have a problem on inclusion time according to the level of disability and development of young children with special needs, problem on balance between happiness of young children with special needs and the educational effect of inclusion education, and problem on instruction methods and level setting owing to difficulty in judging the present level of young children with special needs and predicting their future possibility of development. In addition, they have a problem on the positive effect and negative aspect of disability understanding education, problem on the practical strategies for supporting young children may shape equal peer relations, and problem on setting their roles as an early childhood education teacher of inclusive class.
Second, in order to solve such problems, they mentioned they must grasp themselves as an early childhood education teacher of inclusive class and shape positive mind and attitude on inclusion education and young children with special needs. Also, in order to form affirmative relations with young children with special needs, their parents and general young children, they're contacting with them continually while understanding their situations, cultivating sensibility as a strategy for fostering professionalism as a teacher of the inclusive class, and maintaining cooperation with their surrounding human resources with individual learning. As the strategy for balanced education between the general and young children with special needs, they're understanding similarity between both instruction methods and considering them equally in every respect. Furthermore, as the strategy for promoting general young children's receptive attitude, teachers are making them recognize diversity and have a mind of 'Put yourself in someone else's shoes'. Also they're considering carefully play environment to shape an equal relation. Finally, as the strategy for cultivating pride and confidence of young children with special needs, they're finding out and emphasizing strong points of young children with special needs, putting successful elements during activities, and supporting they may establish an independent human being.
In the inclusion education, teachers' performance is the most important thing, and with teachers' training, supports for them are the most important variables dominating success or failure in the inclusion education. So it's required for multilateral supports to consider practical demands of teachers in the field of inclusion education.