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Project

What Makes Teaching Students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) Special? An Examination of Effective SEN Teaching and Contingency Effects in Inclusive and Special Education Settings in Flanders.

Effective teaching is widely recognized as a central factor contributing to students’ learning and development. While most teacher effectiveness models adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to effective teaching, recent studies have endorsed the importance of contingency effects: effective teaching can look different depending on the specific classroom context, i.e., the group of learners to whom teachers teach and the classroom setting in which they teach. Consequently, it is crucial to take these two factors into account when examining effective teaching. This doctoral project, therefore, targets a very specific group of learners who have somewhat been neglected in teacher effectiveness research today, namely students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and more specifically, students with high-incidence disabilities (i.e., students with an identified learning disability, mild intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder). Moreover, this project takes into account the specific classroom setting in which students with SEN are taught: inclusive classrooms, special education classrooms and, to some extent, intermediate placement options. Throughout the project the focus lies on reading-related outcomes of students with SEN, a subject considered as a crucial educational goal that contributes to the academic success and development of all students. The doctoral project has a twofold main aim. First, the project aims to conceptualize effective teaching for students with SEN in general. Second, contingency effects in effective SEN teaching are examined by focusing on differences and similarities between teachers’ use of effective teaching behaviors in various classroom settings of students with SEN. To achieve this twofold goal, four studies will be conducted. First, a scoping review is conducted to conceptualize effective SEN teaching from a scientific perspective and explore possible contingency effects. Second, a qualitative study is conducted using semi-structured interviews to identify and compare inclusive and special teachers’ knowledge of effective teaching behaviors for students with SEN. Third, a mixed-method study will be conducted. The aim of the quantitative part of this study is to observe teachers’ actual use of effective teaching behaviors in their classroom practice and to compare inclusive and special teachers in this respect. In the qualitative part of this study, a selection of highly effective inclusive and special teachers will be interviewed to understand teachers’ motives for (not) using certain teaching behaviors in their specific classroom context. Fourth, a multiple case study, in which four teachers will participate in an effective teaching intervention, explores how and why the impact of the intervention on teachers’ effective teaching behavior may differ depending on their classroom context.

Date:1 Oct 2020 →  Today
Keywords:Inclusive education
Disciplines:Inclusive and special education
Project type:PhD project