Teacher-Parent Collaboration in the Planning of Activities for Special Education Integrated Programme: Application of Epstein’s Framework

Abstract

Teacher-Parent Collaboration (TPC) is an important factor in developing children with special needs (CSN). TPC plays a major role in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025. Previous studies have looked at specific issues such as teacher and parental involvement in developing the Individualized Education Programme (IEP) and how parents are involved in the schools of their CSN. This article approaches the TPC issue based on how the TPC activities were planned by the teachers to involve the parents and to what extent the framework advocated by Epstein involving elements such as parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making and community collaboration was incorporated. The study used the qualitative case study methodology, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis. The participants of the study comprised two administrators, four teachers and four parents of CSN in Special Education Integrated Program (SEIP) in Malaysia. The findings revealed that teachers played a major role in determining and planning the activities for the academic year. The activities planned focused on education authority requirements, the needs of CSN and the needs of parents which teachers gathered through feedback during formal and informal interactions with parents. For trustworthiness of data, prolonged engagement, member checks and audit trail were used. The planning stage of the TPC involved the teachers teaching in SEIP and the teacher aides. The teachers planned activities with reference to the calendar set by the District Special Education Unit (DSEU).