The purpose of this study was to identify the perception of itinerant teachers on the operational status, effects, problems and improvements of itinerant education comprehensively, to find methods to enforce the system and effects of itinerant educati...
The purpose of this study was to identify the perception of itinerant teachers on the operational status, effects, problems and improvements of itinerant education comprehensively, to find methods to enforce the system and effects of itinerant education.
The followings are the purpose of the study in details.
First, it is to review the current status of itinerant education of special education support centers.
Second, it is to identify the effects and problems of itinerant education of special education support centers.
Third, it is to search for the improvements of itinerant education of special education support centers.
To achieve such goals of the study, the researcher performed in-depth interview with 5 special teachers who had experiences in itinerant education of special students who studied in integrated schools. Based on previous studies, interview sheet was prepared and group interview was executed. The obtained materials were transcribed and coded and contents were analyzed. The followings are the results of the analysis.
First, itinerant education is operating group style classes by expanding roles of special education support center, and class environments are not good enough. Itinerant teachers give classes focusing on knowledge subjects such as language and math according to the requests of parents and integrated school teacher in the selection and preparation of individualization education program. The understanding of concerned people such as integrated teachers and parents is insufficient and itinerant teachers have difficulties because of their negative perception or uncooperative attitudes.
Second, itinerant teachers selected educational contents that are appropriate for the level of learning and they deemed necessary in subject areas of social studies and vocation for their ordinary life training and self-reliance with such knowledge based subjects in order to provide proper educational services to special students. However, insufficient class units allotted to itinerant education, utilization of too many irregular teachers and the perception of integrated teachers on special students, the effects of itinerant education hindered. Efforts to supplement the obscurity of the operation of special education support centers through minimal operational guidelines considering the specificity of the location.
Third, we need to provide itinerant teachers with conditions that they can concentrate on education only by providing active and practical administrative and financial supports such as reduction of number of students, provision of training opportunities and reduction of non-teaching works in order to enhance the quality of itinerant education. Additionally, we need to resolve the obscurity of itinerant education and enforce the role by preparing clear and concrete guidelines on operational method of special education support center reflecting requirements and specialty of the location, and prepare HR system giving preference to the teachers working in special education support centers. We need to construct a proactive service system to supplement drawbacks of uniformed and perfunctory training and education to enhance the effects of itinerant education, and to make active efforts to deliver various information to itinerant teachers such as necessity and operational methods of special education.