Changing educators' perceptions of disabilities through a disability simulation in St. Maarten

Jennifer N. Kruzynski

doi:10.17918/00000329

Due to a lack of training on disabilities and special education for general education teachers on the island of St. Maarten, teachers are unable to successfully educate individuals with disabilities. Teachers are unable to develop or run special education programs; and students with disabilities do not always have the opportunity to learn with their general education peers in St. Maarten schools and are, therefore, less likely to graduate. This lack of knowledge and understanding prevents inclusion of individuals with disabilities. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological research was to explore general education teacher's experiences as they participated in the Walk In My Shoes (WIMS) disability simulation program. Through a qualitative phenomenological study, using Moustakas' (1994) phenomenological approach, the research explored the lived experiences of nine general education teachers and administrators who participated in a teacher training disability simulation intervention program. Nine participants were interviewed one-to-one. The following research questions were addressed through this phenomenological study: (1) How do teachers in St. Maarten describe their knowledge, understanding, and acceptance of student's disabilities? (2) How do teachers describe their experience during their participation in the Walk In My Shoes disability simulation program? (3) After participating in the Walk In My Shoes program, how do the teachers describe what they learned and how it influenced their acceptance of individuals with disabilities? Participants expressed overall satisfaction with the WIMS program. They expressed some worries prior to participating and some frustration with navigating the simulations during the program, but they concurrently expressed increased feelings of empathy and knowledge of disabilities after having participated in the program. Furthermore, many of the participants shared ideas of inclusion and acceptance for their students, families, and community after participating. The Fine Motor disability simulation was one that stood out the most to participants as having a positive impact followed by the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Visual Motor stations. Based on the findings, several recommendations were made including extending the preparation training for the simulation as well as extending the follow up activity discussion. The WIMS program was originally created for general education students; however, this study demonstrated the possible benefits of using the program for teacher training or professional development and should be considered as a method to teach general education teachers about disabilities.

Changing educators' perceptions of disabilities through a disability simulation in St. Maarten

Files and links (1)

Abstract

Metrics

Details

Changing educators' perceptions of disabilities through a disability simulation in St. Maarten

Files and links (1)

Abstract

Metrics

Details

Drexel University Social media