The Relationship Between Parents And Homeroom Teacher In Special Education In Israel

Abstract

The relationship between parents and homeroom teacher constitutes a crucial issue in special education, particularly in Israel where the homeroom teacher has a key role in the classroom and in the school system. Yet, no appropriate tool was found in the literature review for measuring this relationship in the Israeli special education system. The purpose of the study was to develop a questionnaire for both parents and teachers, to evaluate their relationship. The paper presents the instrument’s stages of development. First, statements were formulated based on a theoretical foundation that views the relationship via four components involving the homeroom teacher: professionalism, availability, trustworthiness and empowerment. Second, a process of validation by experts was conducted, followed by a pilot study. Reliability was tested through Cronbach's alpha and a final version was prepared, for teachers and parents separately. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, which broke out after the development of the questionnaire had been completed, a section was added with reference to this period, in order to measure the relationship between parents and homeroom teacher in times of crisis. The discussion presents insights that arose in the process of developing the questionnaire (such as subject teachers' unawareness of the role of the homeroom teacher) and illuminates the possibility of utilizing the questionnaire in further studies on special education and in other countries.