Investigation of teaching methods on numbers used by special education teachers who has primary school teaching degree

Recent developments in the field of special education have dramatically increased the need for certified special education teachers. When this need was not met by the amount of graduates in this field, primary school teachers have been allowed to teach in special education classrooms. This change brought many discussions over the needed qualifications to become a special education teacher and if primary school teachers were educated properly to serve in a special education classroom. Students with mental disabilities are the most populated group within the special education. These students have to learn at least some level of math in order to live independently and to be able to participate in social life. Recognizing and ordering of numbers, telling the time, using money and making small calculations are some of the basic skills that are necessary in life. All these skills require the basic understanding of numbers. The purpose of this research is to identify the instructional methods used by special education teachers with a primary school teaching degree when teaching numbers to special education students. Qualitative case study was used as the research method. Research was conducted at a school accredited by the Ministry of Education, serving students with moderate and severe mental retardation. Purposeful sampling was used. Data was collected via semi structured interviews and observations of three educators with a primary school teaching degree and were in a segregated special education classroom. Gathered data was analyzed using descriptive analysis. According to the results, when teaching the numbers unit, special education teachers with a primary school teaching degree mostly preferred direct instruction with some exceptions where they utilized graded method. Teachers did not have sufficient knowledge of instructional methods used in the special education field, therefore they often improvised with the information they were accustomed to use in a general education setting. Results also indicated that the trainings provided during the transition were insufficient. Although teachers were able to develop individual education plans with ease, they were struggling to implement these plans efficiently in the classroom. KEY WORDS: Special Education, Changing Fields