The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences and support needs related to communication of novice special education teachers with students with disabilities. Two times of focus group interviews were conducted with 9 novice special educ...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences and support needs related to communication of novice special education teachers with students with disabilities. Two times of focus group interviews were conducted with 9 novice special education teachers who were newly appointed within the last year. 6 were female and 3 were male participants. As a result, three major themes and thirteen sub-themes were identified. The three major themes were categorized as 'the meaning of communicating with students,' 'experiences of communication education,' and 'support for enhancing communication teaching capacity.' The sub-themes included 'isolated students in March,' 'beginning of building relationships,' 'communication through class activities,' 'unfamiliar classrooms compared to theoretical knowledge,' 'misunderstandings about students,' 'balancing curriculum and life guidance,' 'trial and error,' 'uncertainty about teaching expertise,' 'securing adaptation time to teaching,' 'sharing communication education goals and objectives,' 'finding evidence-based practices,' 'understanding changes in the communication education paradigm,' and 'breaking through collaboration.' Educational implications were discussed based on the results. Suggestions include improving communication education, such as AAC, in teacher training institutions, considering novice special education teachers in school culture, and reducing workload to provide adequate preparation time.