Proceedings of The 7th International Conference on Research in Teaching and Education
Year: 2023
DOI:
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Evaluating The Knowledge of Primary School Teachers: A Survey of Teachers, Examining Methods and Opportunities for Professional Development
Eszter Melinda Pázmándi, Judit Forrai
ABSTRACT:
At the start of school, it is assumed that students are age-appropriate in terms of cognitive, somatosensory and emotional maturity, so that they have the right foundations for successful learning. However, as the knowledge of professionals and the range of skill-building tools expand, we may find that few educators receive substantial support, leaving them without knowledge and experience to meet certain challenges. When we started our research, we assumed that teachers were experiencing an increase in the number of children with special educational needs and that, despite this growing demand, they had not received the professional support they needed to learn about developmental methods during their studies or at work. In response to this, we aimed to develop and implement a training course for them, in terms of design and content. Our online questionnaire was completed by 121 teachers in Spring 2023, 34 of whom enrolled in our training. The responses to the questionnaire confirmed our assumptions. Only 38% of the teachers were able to consult a professional, 43% could recommend a developmental specialist and a total of 2 participants had received information about therapeutic methods available in our country during their college or university studies. The training was a clear success with 100% of the participants considering the content logical and practical. On the basis of the results, it can be stated that it is necessary and justified to familiarise teachers with the knowledge of special education and the differentiation of children with special educational needs in the classroom.
Keywords: neurodevelopment, special needs education, differentiation, teacher training