Investigation of Teacher’s Opinions About Distance Education Processes of Students Who Receive Special Education During the Covid-19 Pandemic Period

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic first appeared in Wuhan, China in December 2019; it is a disease that starts with high fever, joint pain, cough, shortness of breath, respiratory tract complaints in patients, and causes multiple organ failure. It can be seen in all age groups, and results in death, especially in elderly patients and patients with chronic illnesses. Covid-19 affected all countries in a short period of time like four months and was declared as an epidemic (pandemic) by the World Health Organization (WHO). Then again, for the first time in human history, an epidemic has profoundly affected the functioning of institutions such as health, economy and education in all countries, globally. As in other countries, Turkey has also made its way in getting the various institutional measures to protect human health and to get less affected by the epidemic. One of these measures was the decision of the Ministry of National Education (MEB) to switch to distance education given due to the epidemic. Therefore, in this study, it was aimed to examine teachers’ views on how the distance education processes of special education students took place during the Covid-19 outbreak. The research was carried out in phenomenological design, one of the qualitative research designs, and the interview technique was used to collect qualitative data. The research was conducted with 19 special education teachers according to the purposeful sampling technique. The data were collected in a three-month period, from March to May 2020. Then, the research data were subjected to descriptive analysis. As a result of the research, it was found that the special education teachers participating in the study had problems in planning the needs of their students with distance education and in carrying out educational activities. Besides, the results show that, the materials and assistive technologies used in special education do not serve their purpose through distance education but only via face-to-face education, and because of distance education, they encountered significant difficulties in motivating their students and treating their problem behaviors. Therefore, it has been concluded that the implementation of distance education is very difficult for students who receive special education, and that students move away from school culture and take less responsibility at home, and cannot continue many skills they have acquired in face-to-face education, during this process. This research has been a limited study as teachers’ opinions were consulted in a general framework for the distance education processes of students who received special education and showed different development during the Covid-19 outbreak. Therefore, in future research, new studies can be conducted to reach more specific information about the distance education processes of students who have received education during the Covid-19 outbreak and have a single type of disability © 2020, Milli Egitim All Rights Reserved.