Knowledge and Skills of Receiving Teachers in Handling Learners with Special Educational Needs

The study aimed to determine the knowledge and skills of the receiving teachers in handling learners with special educational needs in the 2nd congressional district of Sorsogon. It used the descriptive-survey method and a questionnaire was devised in gathering the primary data. The respondents were the 31 receiving teachers of selected elementary schools. The statistical tools utilized were frequency count, weighted mean and ranking. The study revealed that physical infrastructure and instructional resources are inadequate to support learners with special needs. There was lack of specialized training for the receiving teachers and therefore, they do not have satisfactory pedagogical knowledge-based in handling students with special needs. Even though receiving teachers and administrators hold regular meetings, collaboration among them falls below expectation and needs to be improved. It was recommended for receiving teachers to work effectively in inclusive settings, they need to develop a broad-based knowledge and understanding of concepts of inclusive education that must meet the learning needs of the individual students. They must be made to undergo periodic refresher courses and training, that should not only be geared towards developing personalized learning approaches for all learners, but also the appropriate values and attitudes, skills and competences to effectively handle the heterogeneous nature of the inclusive classes. Also, they should be encouraged to work collaboratively, engage the services of different professionals whose skills and experiences are relevant to the individual needs of the learners. Finally, the receiving teachers must ensure that all learners, irrespective of their physical or mental or social disposition, are given equal opportunity, not only to access quality education, but also attain their respective goals in life.