Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 566
TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPECIAL-NEEDS CHILDREN
Suzana Maria L.A.F., M. Hum. Christiana Sidupa, M. Hum.
Abstract
Times have changed. Parents of children with special needs have realized that their children have the same opportunities as other children. Children with special needs generally benefit most from a highly structured environment and treatment. Tender care, patience and continuous, correct therapies are very important for the proper development of special-needs children. Their homes, which are their most immediate environment, must be organized in
such a way as not to "marginalize" them. A good and affordable inclusive school prepared to help children with special needs, as a matter of fact, is hard to find since it does not have adequate human resources, particularly teachers. We, therefore, consider that this study is significance since it allows an access to our knowledge about teaching special-needs children. The research question that we seek the answer is “What is the essential meaning of teaching English to special-needs children?”. It can be answered through observations, in -depth interviews, documents and interpretation of the result of text data. These texts are analyzed using a qualitative progressive model. Moreover, since this is phenomenological
and hermeneutical study, the result will be the description and interpretation of teacher‟s
experience in teaching special-needs children. Our study takes place in SD Tumbuh, Yogyakarta and involves three special education teachers as the participants.
The expected result is the description and interpretation of the participants‟ narrative.
Actually, the description of the life world of teaching English to special-needs children is ultimately interpretation. There are two benefits of the study. First, for the scientific benefits, it will help show the essential meaning of the life world of teaching English to special-needs children as lived-experienced by the participants. For practical benefits, especially for the teacher participants, us as the researchers, and audience in general, the study will improve our understanding on effective English teaching of special-needs children.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 567 INTRODUCTION
As teachers, we help our students understand engineering concepts and go beyond the knowledge level to higher levels of thinking. We help them to apply, analyze, and synthesize, to create new knowledge, and solve new problems. So, too, as teachers, we need to recognize our challenge to go beyond knowledge about effective teaching. Then, the quality of teaching and the relationship between teachers and students, as we know, is critical in ensuring the effectiveness of the learning experience. Therefore, we should put them at the centre of learning and teaching. Where effective learning and teaching is taking place this will have a positive impact on raising their attainment and achievement.
In Indonesia, students with behavior differences are still among the most neglected and undeserved population in our educational system. At both the national and local levels, we are presented with chilling data that verify what many educators have suspected for some time. In the Jakarta Post dated 28 March, 2009, Dursin as the Primary Years program
coordinator and English curriculum head of BINUS SCHOOL Simprug in Jakarta states that children with special needs are not yet totally accepted by the society as they are considered defective. It is proven by the fact that there is still a school that rejects a registration of a child with ADHD.
More recently, however, there has been an increasing trend to include these students in general classrooms along with their developing peers. Here, inclusion, as stated by Loreman and Deppeler (2001), means full inclusion of children with diverse abilities in all aspects of schooling that other children are able to access and enjoy. It involves regular schools and classrooms genuinely adapting and changing to meet the needs of all children, as well as celebrating and valuing differences. This definition of inclusion does not imply that children with diverse abilities will not receive specialized assistance or teaching outside of the classroom when required, but rather that this is just one of many options that are available to, and in fact required of, all children.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 568 many possible opportunities to students with physical, mental and social disabilities as well as talented students to receive quality education that is suitable to their needs. This definition on inclusive education is in line with the 2003 National Education System Law. Article 4 of the law stipulates that education programs must be held based on the principle of democracy, justice and non-discrimination while upholding human rights, religion, culture and pluralism. Article 12 states that all students deserve education that is suited to their talents, interests and abilities.
It is believed that the fundamental right to education will bring more pupils with special educational needs (SEN) into ordinary schools, and that this will provide the impetus for change. Inclusion, thus, is all about providing effective learning opportunities to all students. Intermediate school students with special needs in full inclusion settings are found to have more frequent interactions with their peers, to provide and receive higher proportions of social support (Kennedy, Shukla, & Fryxell, 1997).
The purpose of this study is to explore the essential meaning of the lived experiences
of special education teachers in teaching English to special-needs children (SNC) in inclusive school. More specifically, the objective of this study is to describe the lived experiences of special education teachers in teaching English to SNC and interpret it. By doing so, the essential themes of the meaning of the lived experiences of the special education teachers of teaching English to SNC will be obtained.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 569 For practical benefits, it will improve the understanding on the English teaching, particularly to SNC, for the participants, the researcher and audience. After joining the research, it is expected that the participants as the educators will become the judge of their own performance. In other words, Senior (2006) calls such educators as reflective practitioners. Being reflective practitioners, it is hoped that they will commit to their work.
They will perform more efficiently and productively. The participants‟ joining the research is also hoped to be meaningful experiences to them. It is hoped that the participants will become more autonomous in making decisions toward effective teaching learning activities as main duties. Through autonomy, the special educators will be able to do self-actualization in the profession so that finally they can make more sustainable improvement in teaching. As a result, it is hoped that the students will learn better.
To achieve it, we need a teacher. A teacher, in the broadest sense, is a person that has
left a mark in people‟s lives. He has been an example for them as they journey through the
stages of life from the moment they first opened their eyes to witness the world around them
until very last breath in their golden days. A teacher can be anyone who gives people knowledge, experience and good advices.
In a narrow sense, a teacher is usually defined as the one whose job is to teach in a
school or college. Mohr (2007) states that teachers are “subjective insiders involved in
classroom instruction as they go about their daily routines of instructing students, grading
papers, taking attendance, evaluating their performance as well as looking at the curriculum.”
Tudor (1993) as quoted by Jeremy Harmer (2001:56) points out that the teacher is no longer the giver of knowledge, the controller, and the authority, but rather a facilitator and a resource for the students to draw on. According to the Law of the National Education System number 20, 2003, a teacher is included as an educator, whose duties are planning and implementing teaching learning process, assessing or evaluating outcomes, and conducting guidance and trainings.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 570 performance, but they also see student work as data to analyze in order to examine the teaching and learning that they do in the classroom. Being teacher-researchers, they always learn themselves from what they have been doing. They become autonomous learners of teaching. They always do reflection on their teaching experiences. In short, they can be called as reflective teachers. As reflective teachers, they are always ready to change their methods
or techniques of teaching for the sake of the students‟ learning in order to achieve the goal.
For us, teachers are professionals who take active role in modifying standard lessons
and creating own lessons to better meet students‟ needs and accomplish instructional goals. Confidence in what they can do for their students who have different backgrounds, ability levels, and needs, furthermore, is required. Therefore, as the teachers gain experience, they will eventually be able to make decisions about routine situations and problems quickly and efficiently giving them the time and energy to think creatively and flexibly about how best to teach their students.
In inclusive setting, there should be special education teachers who assist the general
education teachers. Slavin (2009:397) uses the term „special educator‟ that refers to the expert on the characteristics of a particular group of students with disabilities, the learning and behavioral strengths and deficits of the mainstreamed student, and instructional techniques
for a particular kind of disability. Santrock (2007:24) employs another term that is „teacher of exceptional children‟. Here, a teacher of exceptional children spends concentrated time with
individual children with individual children who have a disability or are gifted. Among the children a teacher of exceptional children might work with children with learning disabilities, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), mental retardation, or a physical disability such as cerebral palsy. Some of this work will usually be done outside of the student‟s regular classroom, some of it will be carried out when the student is in the regular classroom. The
teacher of exceptional children works closely with the student‟s regular classroom teacher and parents to create the best educational program for the students.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 571 special education teachers usually meet the classroom teachers to keep track of student progress and to provide assistance.
In our opinion, for teaching children with severe or mild cognitive, emotional, or physical differences, a special teacher or educator is a professional who uses or modifies the
general education instruction to meet the child‟s individual needs. As schools become more
inclusive, special teachers and general education teachers can increasingly work together in general education classrooms. Special teachers here help general educators adapt curriculum materials and teaching techniques to meet the needs of students. Therefore, special educators consult, collaborate, and co-teach with general education teachers and other service providers.
For English definition, Mercer and Swann (1996) define it as a medium for education in school, a setting which can have a powerful influence on intellectual, social and linguistic development of older children. English is the medium of instruction, an important part of a
teacher‟s job is to help pupils learn and understand the specialized English of curriculum
subjects. Here, education refers only to those types of actions and interactions intentionally (though not always deliberately or consciously) engaged in by an adult and a child, directed
toward the child‟s positive being and becoming (Van Manen, 1991:18 as quoted by Kohonen
et. al, 2001).
Moreover, in its development, according to Harmer (2007), English was already well on its way to becoming a genuine „lingua franca‟, that is a language used widely for communication between people who do not share the same first (or even second) language, than as a native language the majority of competent English speakers are not native speakers but second-language users. As a result, a consensus has emerged that instead of inner, outer
and expanding circle Englishes, we need to recognize „World Englishes‟ (Jenkins, 2006a: 159) or „Global English‟ (Graddol, 2006:106). World English belongs to everyone who
speaks it. Thus, nobody monopolizes English any more, in other words „native‟ and „non
-native‟ speakers own it together in a kind of international shareholders‟ democracy since
whatever English we speak, Indian English, British English or Malaysian English, we have, or should have, equal rights as English users (Rajagopalan, 2004:113).
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 572 country. It is mentioned furthermore that a working knowledge of English is required for university-level study in many disciplines, for Indonesian government employees in certain offices and programs, and for employees in commerce, banking and tourism industries.
To summarize, since English has become the lingua franca through globalization where English is now the dominant or official language in over sixty countries, Indonesia as a part of expanding circle countries is adjusting to the world trend of keeping pace with technological, economic and social advances. The goals of English as subject/language course are for academic or occupational use and for communicative resource. Then, in English education, it is aimed to the acquisition to apply the language itself. Because of its worldwide function, English Education in Indonesia becomes one required subject starting from elementary level.
Children or young learners, according to Bailey (2008:381) in Europe, are often applied to students in only the very earliest school years (ages 5-7) or before. In the USA, where the introduction of foreign language teaching often does not take place until the
secondary grades, the notion of a „young learner‟ can continue through the entire preschool
and elementary years (ages 3-11). Obviously for second language learner, the onset of a second language can start school years for those who emigrate as school-age language learners.
McKay (2006:1) defines young language learner as those who are learning a foreign or second language and who are doing so during the first six or seven years of formal schooling. In the education systems of most countries, young learners are children who are in primary or elementary school. In terms of age, young learners are between the ages of approximately five and twelve. Many young language learners can be called bilingual. Bilingual learners are those learners who learn two (or more) languages to some level of proficiency (Bialystok, 2001:5).
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 573 within particular skill areas. A test that focused only on a child‟s linguistic development and not social development might cause undue alarm for a teacher or parents.
Cognitive issues at young ages include shorter attention spans, understanding the connection between a cause and its effect, understanding how parts can relate to a whole, organizing information in their minds for short-term and long-term memory recall. With a shorter attention span, a testing environment which required a child to pay close attention for more than 15 or 20 minutes would elicit boredom or fatigue. Children tend to learn best through direct experience, where they can see and relate an object within its environment. Hypothesizing about some situation, imagining possible effects, requires an ability to abstract that is developmentally unavailable at younger ages. This becomes almost impossible when
the imagined object is beyond the child‟s range of experience (ie. answering questions on a
story involving playing outside in winter, when the child has never seen snow). Using a meta-language (ie grammatical terms) to identify parts of a sentence, (a test item often employed for vocabulary or grammar tests in middle school), would not be appropriate for young
language learners (YLLs).
Socio-emotional issues arise due to the fact that the child is still learning how cope with increasing detachment from the family unit (for example, the mother as primary care-giver), and how to relate to others who are not family, or even not familiar. This can create some anxiety and dependency in children. In a testing situation that involved cooperating with other children, the degree of familiarity with the social setting would need to be
considered, and the child‟s needs for recognition and secure affirmation attended to. As well,
the child would probably be very sensitive to negative feedback. Montessori (1912) has talked about the fact that children generally experience failure for the first time in the classroom.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 574 Second vital dimension of difference for young learners, compared with most older learners, is that they are learning literacy skills and understanding at the same time as they are learning their target language. Of course, literacy experiences vary greatly from child to child. Some children enter the class having been read to often by the parents, where other children may not yet have developed the association from sound to symbol (Dyson and Genishi, 1993:127). In an increasingly audio-visual wired world, the TV can play a large role in determining and limiting exposure to written materials (Puckett and Black, 2002:481). First language children have the advantage of more or less developed oracy. When approaching a second language, however, developing L2 oracy parallels L2 literacy. Yet, at the same time, the assessment tradition often relies heavily on a written format as noted by Maley (Ioannou-Georgio and Pavlou, 2003:iii). Children from an EFL environment have the added difficulty of using language that has no connection to their worlds of experience.
The last difference is that young learners have a particular vulnerability that requires careful attention. It is only when learning an unfamiliar topic in the school setting that
children first become vulnerable to a sense of their own inadequacy (i.e. EFL). An extended quote from Montessori (1912:237) can help illustrate the point:
A widespread prejudice [is]… the belief that the child left to
himself gives absolute repose to his mind. If this were so he would remain a stranger to the world, and, instead, we see him, little by little, spontaneously conquer various ideas and words. He is a traveler through life, who observes the new things among which he journeys, and who tries to understand the unknown tongues spoken by those around him. Indeed, he makes a great and voluntary effort to understand and to imitate.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 575
slant a teacher‟s perspective toward that child‟s achievement and progress. This kind of
testing can become important way stations for making crucial administrative and pedagogical decisions for later schooling, even though standardized tests for young children can often be hampered by validity and reliability problems (such as in the USA, as described by Goodwin and Goodwin, 1993:456). They found, for example, that many content areas that should be measured in young children (for example, motivational competence) are ignored; what
measures are used often don‟t correspond to actual performance (for example, language
readiness); and finally, the end-users of such testing are not trained or competent in their interpretation or application. A very important point they raise is the issue of what children should be tested for: what they can do, rather than what they cannot, and this fits in well for language education to be stress-free and to engender positive attitudes and a sense of success. As stated by Cameron (2001), children are often more enthusiastic and lively as learners. They want to please their teachers rather than their peer group. In teaching English
to children, knowledge about children‟s learning is seen as central to effective teaching.
Learner-centered teaching places the child at the centre of teacher thinking and curriculum
planning. Children actively try to „make sense‟, i.e. to find and construct a meaning and
purpose for what adults say to them and ask them to do. They can only make sense in terms of their world knowledge. Teacher, thus, need to examine classroom activities from the
child‟s point of view in order to assess whether pupils will understand what to do or will be
able to make sense of new language.
Van Geert (1995) as quoted by Cameron (2001:21) reveals that classroom tasks and
activities are seen as „environment‟ or „ecosystem‟ in which the growth of skills in the
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 576 useful base for more grown-up purpose. Cameron (2001), furthermore, proposes classroom tasks for children learning a foreign language.
For summary, instead of children development, there are also characteristics of young learners that should be considered as well. Growth, literacy skills, and vulnerability factors are covered here that make them different from older learners. They are developing literacy knowledge, skills, and understandings that may or may not be transferred from their first language. Young children take some time to develop in this way and most are still doing so as they begin to learn the new language at school.
In one sense, every child is special. Some children are energetic, distractible, or impulsive. Others are quiet and withdrawn. Some are funny, while others are serious. Some have language skills, and some do not. Some have cognitive, sensory, physical or mobility limitations. Some have fears and anxieties, while others have no fears whatsoever. Some children have special needs, while others have special talents. Each child has own individual personality and set of personal characteristics that will influence all aspects of life.
In fact, every school has children with special needs who can do well in school when they are given the support they need to learn. Children with autism or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are some examples categorized as special-needs children. Special needs term is not a legally defined term. It is generally used to refer to the needs which may be experienced by pupils from particular social groups whose circumstances or background are different from most of the school population (Frederickson and Cline,
2002:34). Slavin (2009:365) uses the term „learners with exceptionalities‟ used to describe
any individuals whose physical, mental, or behavioral performance is so different from the norm, either higher or lower, that additional services are needed to meet the individual‟s needs. Sadker & Sadker (1997:105) mention that typically exceptional learners are categorized as students with mental retardation, students with learning disabilities, students with emotional disturbance or behavior disorders, students with health and physical impairments, students with severe and multiple disabilities, and also gifted and talented students.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 577 students are different from other normal students who have mental retardation, emotional or behavioral differences, or learning problems that make it difficult for them to learn.
One of them is mental retardation. Mental retardation (MR) is a genetic disorder mainfested in significantly below average overall intellectual functioning and deficits in adaptive behaviour. Bregman (1991) as quoted by Armatas (2009:114) points out that mental retardation is a particular state of functioning that begins in childhood and is characterized by decreased intelligence and adaptive skills and also is the most common developmental disorder. MR retardation in young children is often missed by clinicians.
Next, Armatas (2009:114) mentions that an accurate and consistent definition of mental retardation is critical because of its impact on the prevalence, or count, of those with MR. However, despite the importance of consistency, MR is not always defined in the same way across research studies or service agencies, even within the same state (Koller et al., 1984; Borthwick-Duffy, 1994). While some definitions rely on IQ scores alone to classify individuals with MR, some only use adaptive behaviours for classification, and others include
both IQ scores and measures of adaptive skills (Whitman et al., 1990; Borthwick-Duffy, 1994).
To sum up, mental retardation is a genetic disorder mainfested in significantly below average overall intellectual functioning and deficits in adaptive behaviour. A number of environmental, genetic or multiple factors can cause mental retardation. In at least 30 to 50 percent of cases, physicians are unable to determine etiology despite thorough evaluation.
Another category of SNC is students with physical impairments. One of physical impairment is hearing impaired (HI). Davis and Florian (2004) explain that hearing impairment is a broad term that encompasses varying degrees of hearing loss from hard-of-hearing to total deafness. Due to the fact that so much of learning is acquired aurally, many students may have experiential as well as language deficiencies. To communicate, they use sign language. However, these are not the only types of communication available to deaf students. They can also use sign and oral language interpreters. These are professionals who assist deaf students understand communication. They also assist hearing persons with understanding messages communicated by hearing impaired student. Interpreters also voice when requested what the student says, as well as interpret all information in a given situation
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 578 To enhance the learning experience of students with HI, the teacher should make certain to have their attention when speaking to them. A light touch of the shoulder, a wave,
or other visual signal may help. Then, because visual information is a deaf student‟s primary means of receiving information, films, overheads, diagrams, and other visual aids are useful instructional tools. Besides that, strategies emphasizing the importance of providing opportunity for developing skills of social interaction and access to the child‟s local environment are needed.
In teaching students with special needs, Rosenberg et al. (2004:359) utters that sometimes overlooked in the zeal to develop and implement successful management programs for students engaging in high rates of inappropriate behaviors is the need to provide effective instruction in the many content areas of the academic curriculum. It is easy to
understand why this happens. First, these students‟ behavior problems tend to be more
pronounced than their academic deficiencies. Second, most teachers at the beginning of their careers are apprehensive about classroom management. For example, in a review of studies
concerned with the perceived problems of beginning elementary and secondary teachers, Veenman (1984) as quoted by Rosenberg et al. (2004:360) finds that classroom discipline and student motivation are by far the most serious of perceived problems. Instructional concerns such as lesson planning and effective use of different teaching methods do not even enter the list of top ten concerns.
Actually the ability to effectively organize an instructional environment before teaching gives teachers of students with special needs confidence, security, and direction (Rosenberg et al., 2004:362). Here, efficient use of instructional time is especially critical for
teachers of students with special needs if these students‟ opportunities to learn are to be
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 579 After that, group size consideration is also required in organizing for successful instruction. Although some data suggest that teacher-led group instruction may be more effective and efficient instructional arrangement for students with mild disabilities, small-group instruction is recommended to provide students with increased chance for incidental or observational learning and appropriate peer interaction (quoted by Rosenberg, 2004:366 from Polloway et al., 1986). For students with behavior problems, small-group instruction allows for the teaching and practicing of appropriate classroom behaviors, such as turn taking and listening to others.
Subsequently, climate setting plays a significant role in the organization of the
instruction. The term „climate‟ refers to the tone, character, or ambiance of an environment. A comfortable classroom environment will lead to higher student motivation and achievement. To build such an environment, the teachers should plan for and secure for
student cooperation. Then, to build students‟ self-esteem and increasing academic performance, the teachers should have well-planned and well-organized teaching. Selecting
instructional objectives and giving clear instructions for task completion are included here. The teachers should communicate academic expectations from their students as well.
Generally, teacher behaviors that are associated with effective teaching for students with disabilities in the general education classroom are essentially the same as those that improve achievement for all students (Slavin, 2009:393). Nevertheless, some adaptations in instructional strategies will help teachers to better meet the needs of students. When students have difficulty with instruction or materials in learning situations, the recommendation is frequently to adapt or modify the instruction or the materials.
In some instances, students might require an adaptation in the content being presented, such as so much new information is presented that the student cannot process it quickly or when the student lacks a prerequisite skill or concept necessary to complete a task. One way to adapt the amount of content being presented is to isolate each concept and require mastery of each concept as a separate unit before teaching the next concept.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 580 if the information is made available in other forms. Being creative is necessary, indeed. The teachers might have students watch a demonstration, play, computer program, and so on.
The following table identifies some specific learning difficulties and suggests a number of possible classroom strategies, adapted from a variety of sources in the literature.
Classroom Strategies for Learning Difficulty
2. Be as concrete as possible in presenting new concepts and abstract material
8. Use outlines to help student take notes and
organize and categorize information 9. Avoid verbal overload
10. Capitalize on strengths (e.g., memory) 11. Do not assume that student has understood
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 581
1. Be aware that normal levels of auditory and visual input can be perceived by the student
9. Arrange for independent work space that is free of sensory stimuli that bother the student
Slavin (1990:396), after that, adds that providing the students with special needs with assistance from nondisabled classmates, using either a buddy system for non-instructional needs or peer tutoring to help with learning problems can help meet the needs of special children. A student who volunteers to be a special-need student‟s buddy can help the student cope with the routine tasks of classroom life. Teachers who use peers to tutor in their
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 582 We can sum up, therefore, that generally, it is necessary to accommodate students‟ unique needs within the context of general classroom practices and activities, especially students with special needs. They require specially adapted instructional materials or practices in general education classroom, a practice called inclusion. The practice of
integrating all students with special needs into the overall community and “life” of
neighborhood school embodies the spirit of the inclusion movement.
THE STUDY
Participants surely become sources of the text. In this study, there were three participants who shared their stories. The first participant was Mrs. Heny who helps SNC in first grade. Next, Mr. Eko was in second grade and the last is Mr. Totok in third grade. They were all special education teachers who deal with special-need children in English class of SD Tumbuh, Yogyakarta. The number of participants was restricted in order to go deeper in
searching the meaning of lived experience of teaching the special-needs children. These participants were hoped to provide complete and various data needed in the research.
Specifically, the research was conducted in SD Tumbuh at Jalan A.M. Sangaji No. 48, Yogyakarta. It is in elementary school that applies National Curriculum developed based on the children‟s needs. The development itself covers material, methods, approaches and competency. Special-needs children will be accepted if they are willing to follow the school procedures. The school cannot accept the SNC supposing they are not capable to fulfill the necessary needs of the children.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 583 data, we then can triangulate the data, so that valid data can be obtained and trustworthiness of the result of the study can be increased.
This research method adopts the progressive qualitative research. It is qualitative since knowledge claims made is based primarily on the constructivist perspective, i.e. the multiple meanings of individual experiences (Cresswell, 2002:18). In addition, in utilizing a qualitative research methodology, the narrative stories and experiences of special education teachers talking about their lived experience and of teaching special-needs children emerge. The knowledge and pre-understandings of the participants and our pre-understandings provide clearer insights and understanding that will contribute to the overall thematic analysis and the identification essential themes. It is progressive because the researcher portrays
people as constructing the social world and the researcher as „„him/her constructing the social
world through their interpretations of it” (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995 in Holliday,
2002).
Discussion
At that time, what became the English subject for the students in the first grade was kinds of jobs. In previous meeting, all students had learnt them. Therefore, it was just kind of material review. To review it, the English teacher gave clues and asked the students to guess what kinds of jobs she had just described. After that, for in-class assignment, the teacher asked them to draw a picture of job and write the name of the job. As usual, everytime they got exercises in the class, Mrs. Heni would immediately approach the MR students by sitting between them. At first, two of them started looking at the exercise sheets but none of them looked enthusiastic. It was not wondering since they might be confused with what they had to do with the sheets they got.
Mrs. Heni, then, explained it patiently. Then, with her guidance, they could finish their drawings. However, beforehand Mrs. Heni asked each of them what kind of job they wanted to draw. One of MR student drew a teacher while another drew a policeman. Without
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 584
or not. Often, to help them remember the English teacher‟s explanation, she would repeat and repeat. After they could finish their task, she would praise them.
They, in fact, really needed Mrs. Heni in the class. As soon as the teacher entered the class, Mrs. Heni would start to look for students with MR. She would hold their hands and
put them to sit next to her because it would give her an access to repeat the teacher‟s
explanation to MR students.
For her, it was easier to help the MR students who had high motivation. It reminded her with one of MR students who at first could not do anything in the class gradually change. At first, every time he got exercises, he would cry. However, his motivation had improved a lot. Now, he could complete the task. Even his parents were confused to see that significant change.
In the second grade classroom, the English lesson started with watching movie about a girl who wanted to take a moon. The students really enjoyed it. After that, they were introduced with the topic on jobs and places by watching movie again. After watching movie,
the teacher asked questions about jobs and places. During the watching, Mr. Eko sat next to MR students and explained kinds of jobs and places shown.
When time to do the exercise came, one of MR students liked daydreaming. When Mr. Eko read the questions for him, he would answer, “I don‟t know”. Another MR student seemed to be busy with himself. He just played his pencil and did not do his task. They would stop doing the exercise as soon as they got bored or tired with it. Mr. Eko, of course, would not force them to finish the exercise because he thought that it would be useless.
The MR students involved in group discussions. When the topic of the lesson at that time was profession, the students were asked to make posters. They had to choose the pictures of tools and match them with appropriate profession. After that, they needed to cut and stick it on the paper. One of MR student just looked at what his friends did. When he was asked to throw the rubbish into the bin, he refused to do that. He said that he was tired. However, his friend could understand that. What happened to another MR student was he cut the picture of the ladder into two parts. However, his friends in the group were not angry to him. They put masking tape to the picture of ladder.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 585 he would ask Mr. Totok directly. Eventually, he was a smart student. He just had difficulties to speak. Even he could not hear, he could read lips well and understand what we said to him.
During the lesson on ordinal numbers, the HI student said „Komsopai‟ that meant „kampungan‟ in Bahasa Indonesia to his friend. Then, Mr. Totok approached him and explained to him that it was not good to say that. However, the HI student insisted that it was not a big problem. Mr. Totok patiently explained that it still was not good to say like that to others. Finally, the HI student could understand and promise not to do it anymore.
As special-education teachers, first of all, they need to possess empathy. Here, they should accept all students, identify their individual educational needs, and develop mutual understanding and acceptance among students. Therefore, it is important to recognize and accommodate individual differences in establishing an inclusive community. In dealing with special-needs children, the teachers should do their best in understanding their characteristics.
Their students‟ strengths and weaknesses are acknowledged.
Secondly, all students should be treated equally, including special-needs children.
Then, the teachers agree that the special-needs children are same as their other peers. They deserve education, facilities, attention and even friends. Take for example, for their good works, the teachers will definitely praise or even show their love to them.
The teachers have awesome dedication as teachers. For the school, they have their best for the school. Their knowledge, time and energy are dedicated for the school. Moreover, as soon as they finish their teaching in the class, they will not just go home and take a rest. They stay in the school to prepare for next materials or other things. Often, school works have to be brought to home and done at midnight. For the special-needs children, they try to give their best to all students without exception though they find many problems in the process.
Patience is essential in handling the younger learners, particularly special-needs children. Although it takes a long time, they are obliged to explain the material until they comprehend it. They need to continuously motivate the SNC to become better and better.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 586 CONCLUSION
As the reflective process proceeds, there are themes that emerge. Teachers are aware of the learning difficulties of children with special needs as early as possible to find out strategies to overcome them. Here, they can, then, facilitate what become their needs and give necessary assistance. Like other students, students with special needs also have different interest and potentials. Teachers understand them so that they could explore them more and more. Teachers, in addition, build up their confidence by allowing them to participate in all class activities. For their learning problems, adopting various strategies, such as collaborative teaching, teaching techniques and cooperative learning, therefore, can provide appropriate support for them.
Students with special needs are treated the same as their peers. The teachers do not neglect them or regard them as someone to be ashamed of. Moreover, their other peers try to
recognize and accept them. Therefore, there is no barrier that may lead to discrimination. Actually, through cooperative learning, peer support or sharing groups, students can learn to
interact with their counterparts. Peer interaction will also facilitate students‟ learning and
personal development.
Students with special needs are praised as well whenever they have achieved something within their capability. The same attitude, in addition, is taken towards students with special needs and their peers. If necessary, teachers correct them as they need to know the standards of accepted behavior.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 587 Patience is needed when they dealt with children with special needs. In making the materials clear, they are patient so that the children would not feel under pressure. They eventually could grasp her explanation though it took a long time. Thus, appropriate assistance and support are given to students based on their individual special needs.
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