Academia.eduAcademia.edu
European Journal of Special Education Research ISSN: 2501 - 2428 ISSN-L: 2501 - 2428 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu Volume 2 │ Issue 6 │ 2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1064054 TEACH US THE WAY WE WANT: TEACHING APPROACH FOR SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS Ariel E. San Jose1i, Rida Bahket2, Hanaa Hassan Ali Alsalhi3 PhD, Lecturer, 1 Faculty of Foundation Studies Gulf College of Oman, Oman Lecturer for Special Needs, 2 Gulf College, Oman 3 Assistant Lecturer Gulf College, Oman Abstract: This study was conducted to explore the learning of special needs students in reading and writing; determine their preferred teaching approaches; and obtain their suggestions to improve the teaching of both reading and writing modules. Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted in obtaining pertinent information. Results regarding what the learners learned; and the best approach for teaching English revealed interesting insights which could guide special needs teachers. Suggestions which aimed at improving English teaching were also provided. Keywords: teaching approach, special needs, deaf and mute 1. Introduction There is no master key in teaching. Each classroom needs different keys to unlock. In teaching, one approach may not suite the learners no matter how splendid or acceptable it is for many. Thus, a teacher needs to untangle the mystery of knowing what his learners’ preferred approach. It is only through this that learning will be meaningful and fruitful for the students. Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 181 Ariel E. San Jose, Rida Bahket, Hanaa Hassan Ali Alsalhi TEACH US THE WAY WE WANT: TEACHING APPROACH FOR SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS It is always the aim of each teacher in every classroom to make their students learned. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes their efforts failed and resulted to frustrations. Hence, as mentioned by San Jose and Galang (2015) teachers are placed into a dungeon of confusion on how they could become effected teachers. Thus, we believed that to become an effective teacher, one needs to determine his learners’ preferred approach es by inquiry. The teacher’s findings may guide him to adopt, to formulate and to act according to the students’ needs. Several literatures have presented that effective teaching involves flexibility and creativity, constant monitor and adjustments Mulligan, ; depends on the frequency of the approached used (Bay, 2012); applies theory into practice (Loughran, 2012); applies approaches pertinent to students’ learning Knutson, 2014); involves utilization of tools to know how students learn and determines the things which hinder learning Center to teaching learning, 4 and puts the students’ needs in the cornerstone before doing any instructional decisions (Rasmussen, 2015). These imply that inside the classroom, the learners are to be considered delicately; that they should be involved in the learning process and even in choosing the appropriate approach(es) for them. But do these literatures can also be considered in a special needs classroom? Are the special needs students’ needs different from those who are in the mainstream classroom? It was on these grounds why this study was conducted. In consideration of the special needs’ disability, this study determined what they learned from their English classrooms; what were their preferred approach(es) in reading and writing; and what were their suggestions to improve the delivery of English. There were several studies which dealt with approaches in teaching the deaf and mute; however, those researches did not describe and include personal experiences, learning and suggestions rather quantitatively and squarely measured the effectively of the approach. For viewing / downloading the full article, please access the following link: https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejse/article/view/1206 European Journal of Special Education Research - Volume 2 │ Issue 6 │ 2017 182