Studying teaching methods, strategies and best practices for young children with special educational needs

Abstract

Teaching objectives in special education are different from those in the ordinary classroom. Educational programmes for special needs students are focused on individual learning, achievement and progress. Thus, the instruction in special education classrooms and resource rooms in inclusive schools has to be specific, directed and individualised. The present study aimed to investigate the use of teaching methods, strategies and best practices in resource rooms of inclusive schools and to discuss their appropriateness and quality in relation to literature review. The study was a qualitative one, using triangulation of data collection, semi-structured interviews and observation. The participants were 30, experienced, special education teachers and 120 special education future-teachers. The study took into account the qualitative research ethical recommendations. The research revealed that the self-reported data show that the participants had great interest in their students' learning outcomes and they used effective teaching methods, techniques and strategies, but this was not confirmed by the data of observation. The present study would affect the educational policies regarding the critical issue of teacher evaluation and the differences between general and special teaching effectiveness.

Keywords:

• teacher effectiveness
• teaching methods
• teaching strategies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr. Sotiria Tzivinikou is a lecturer at the Special Education Department of University of Thessaly. She holds a Ph.D. in learning disabilities from Brunel University, London, UK. She had worked for 25 years in Greek Public Education, 8 of which she was a director of a public center for diagnosis and support learning difficulties (KEDDY). Since 2012, as a lecturer at the Special Education Department, 2012, she has offered several undergraduate and post-graduate courses on various topics related to learning disabilities. Her main research interests are in the areas of learning disabilities, teaching methods and strategies for learning disabled students. She has published in journals and conference proceedings and she is the author and the editor of books related to learning disabilities.