SAKALLI GÜMÜŞ, Suad Mustafa Kemal University, Turkey , BUTERA, Gretchen Indiana University, India , HUMPHREYS, Lisa Anne Indiana University, India

PREPARING SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS FOR FAMILY-PROFESSIONAL PARTNERSHIP: THE PERSPECTIVE OF FAMILIES

39884

Understanding the family perspective on partnering with teachers is critical for restructuring practices in preparing teachers to partner with families. In this study, the context of a course which was designed to prepare special education teachers for family-professional partnerships is used to examine how families of students with special needs view their role in school-family relationships, what they think about teachers partnering with families, and how teacher preparation programs might respond to the challenges that arise from the family perspective. Data were collected through surveys, interviews and focus group discussions and were analyzed using mixed-methods. Families reported that direct experience with families was essential to prepare teachers to work with them. They also made it clear that there was a mismatch between families’ understanding of family-professional partnership and that of professionals. These findings have important implications for the design and content of teacher preparation programs.

56

Teacher preparation , special education , partnership , families , collaboration

Mustafa Kemal University Journal Of Graduate School Of Social Sciences

77