The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers in charge of regular classes perceived students enrolled in special classes and teachers responsible for special classes in consideration of their gender, teaching career, special education career ...
The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers in charge of regular classes perceived students enrolled in special classes and teachers responsible for special classes in consideration of their gender, teaching career, special education career and special education training experiences that were directly or indirectly tied into special education. The subjects in this study were 400 teachers who were selected by cluster sampling from six schools in Gwangju, six schools in south Jeolla province and seven schools in north Jeolla province. The selected schools included both elementary and secondary schools. After a mail survey was conducted, the collected data were analyzed.
The findings of the study were as follows:
First, the teachers in charge of regular classes took a dismal view of special class students, but they had a favorable outlook on teachers in charge of special classes.
Second, the teachers in charge of regular classes took a positive attitude toward special class students, but their attitude toward teachers in charge of special classes was unfavorable.
There were some limits to this study. Since questionnaires used in earlier studies were rearranged to serve the purpose of the study, it's not easy to acquire more detailed information on regular teachers' perception of special class students and their teachers and on their attitude toward them.
Based on the above-mentioned findings of the study, there are some suggestions about future research efforts:
First, the survey was conducted only on teachers who were in charge of regular classes at elementary and secondary schools in Gwangju, south Jeolla and north Jeolla provinces, which were equipped with special classes. It's required to find out how regular teachers at elementary and secondary schools that are devoid of special classes look at special class students and their teachers and what attitude they take toward them.
Second, how their view and attitude are affected by other variables should be studied.
Third, only teachers in charge of regular classes were examined in this study, and the way students in regular classes perceive special class students and their teachers should be investigated.