Teachers’ Experiences in Handling Students with Learning Difficulty

Abstract

The world’s educational system has evolved over time. These changes include the growing awareness in the special education context. Thus, an increasing number of students with special needs — both formally assessed and assumed— are observed in either private or public schools. This results in the growing population of students with special needs, particularly students with learning disability. Implicitly, nationwide school divisions are experiencing the same dilemma which include the Tacloban City Division, Philippines. Hence, this study is conducted to explore the experiences of teachers handling students with learning difficulty. This study made use of qualitative data. This study is based on the Heidderger’s Phenomenological design and Collaizzi’s method of data analysis. There were ten (10) teachers from grades 5 and 6 who actively participated in this study. Thus they represent the five (5) District Learning Centers under the Tacloban City Division. The data was collected through a one-on-one interview with the participants, a checklist was also utilized during classroom observations and focus-group discussion. Results revealed that teachers experiences are challenging and not easy. Results also shows the teachers’ best practices, challenges and coping mechanisms as highlights of their experiences.