Chan, Min Yi; Han, Emeline; Crane, Laura; (2024) Preschool and Primary School Teachers’ Understanding and Awareness of Identifying and Supporting Children with Special Educational Needs in Singapore. International Journal of Disability Development and Education (In press).

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Abstract

We examined preschool and primary school teachers’ understanding and awareness of identifying and supporting children with special educational needs (SEN) in Singapore. A combination of opportunity and snowball sampling was used to recruit 16 teachers: eight from preschools, and eight from mainstream primary schools. Each teacher participated in a semi-structured interview comprising three sections: section one asked how children typically develop with age, section two involved discussion of seven vignettes describing typically and atypically developing children, and section three sought views on supporting children with SEN. The teachers were generally able to identify and label most of the vignettes shown during the interview, although some had difficulties identifying and labelling the vignettes describing a boy with possible Attention Hyperactivity Deficit Disorder, and a girl with possible autism. Three main themes were developed from the analysis of interview data, pertaining to the identification and support of children with SEN: (1) tensions of labelling, (2) importance of the home environment, and (3) challenges of inclusive education. Our findings underscore the need to provide teachers in Singapore with the right type of training to increase their confidence and skills in identifying and supporting children with SEN.

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