East Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (EAJMR)

Vol. 1, No. 7, 2022 : 1343-1364

A Phenomenological Study on the Lived Experiences of SPED

English Teachers in BARMM Region

Fernando R. Gallarde Jr.1, Mark Dave D. Gatera²*, Lorenzo D. Buscato3, and

Paul John M. Villaries4
Illana Bay Integrated Computer College, Inc., Maguindanao, Philippines

ABSTRACT: This research was conducted in the parameters of the Bangsamoro

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Philippines. In order to
determine the lived experiences of the special education teachers in the region,
the study used a qualitative research design and a phenomenological approach.
The participants of this study were five special education teachers, and the
researcher used a semi-structured in-depth-interview in this study. Findings
revealed that the special education teachers’ experiences during distance
learning were extremely challenging, five themes emerge on the challenges
encountered in teaching special education learners; these were mixed disabilities
in one classroom, lack of comprehension, poor parental educational attainment,
tantrum-inducing behavior, and inadequate funding and government support.
Four themes that emerge on the coping strategies in addressing the challenges
encountered in teaching English language to the special education learners.
These were home visitation, K to 12 curriculum integration, educational
mainstreaming, and individualized educational plan. The researchers concluded
that teaching English to special education students is difficult, especially in this
time of pandemic; it necessitates a significant amount of effort especially since
the teacher is dealing with different disabilities in one classroom.
Keywords: New normal education, phenomenological approach, Special
Education, Learners with Disability, English Language.

Submitted: 06-08-2022 ; Revised: 15-08-2022 ; Accepted: 26-08-2022

*Corresponding Author: johnpaulvillaries@[Link]

DOI Prefiks:

ISSN-E: 2828-1519 1343

( [Link]
Gallarde, Gatera, Buscato, Villaries

INTRODUCTION

Special Education Teachers

Students with different talents and personalities are grouped together in
every classroom. Some students learn more quickly than others since each has a
unique set of skills. Teachers need to come up with effective teaching strategies
and implement solutions, in order to meet every student’s individual needs in
the class (Mahanta, 2019). Wherein, English Language Learners is often a
challenge for many schools, and accurately identifying and supporting ELLs with
special needs, can be an even greater challenge (Ferlazo, 2016).
According to Education Trust (2020), parents are dealing with a variety of
issues, insurmountable problems with their experiences assisting their children
with learning at a distance. Also, distance learning poses threat to students
because they may feel isolated and dejected (Zaheer & Munir, 2020). Other
problems occur such as children with genuine LDs in reading have intrinsic
learning difficulties or differences, often related to problems in phonological
processing that impact their word identification skills. Moreover, English
Language Learners with LDs need instruction that simultaneously responsive to
their disability, English language status, and culture, since the majority of
students with LDs have reading disabilities. ESL and classroom teachers must be
familiar with the instructional strategies that will support language and literacy
development in the context areas (Garcia & Tyler, 2010)
In the Philippines, the government has been seeking and developing ways
to address the different needs of its citizens. Education being one of the target
areas for improvement has been a serious subject of challenge to the
administration most especially in Special Education; however, the aspect of
education for all is not effectively implemented despite of having policies and
legal framework that advocate education for all specially in the implementation
of SPED classes (Allam & Martin, 2021). However, the growth of special
education has been given a good support all these years both by the government
and non-government organization. Despite the attempts to achieve and maintain
progressive changes for the educational system for learners with disability,
teachers seem that the current state of Special Education reflects the other way
around (Ebol, 2000).
A transcendental phenomenological research of special education teachers
in Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao, Philippines, found that the COVID-19
Pandemic had a profoundly negative impact on their utilization of online
learning modalities. During this period, it was able to depict the frustration of
SPED teachers with inconsistent and unreasonable demands for teaching
students with disabilities in the midst of pandemic (Abrazado, et al., 2021).
However, the present research study found out that in Bangsamoro Autonomous
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Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Philippines, special education teachers

were still able to manage teaching learners with disability through house-to-
house visitation and limited face-to-face classes for hearing impaired learners in
the parameters of the region, despite the inadequate funding and government
support, poor parental educational attainment that affects learners with special
needs, and lacking of appropriate instructional materials of SPED teachers
methods and strategies during this crisis, makes the region behind from other
regions in handling special education in Mindanao.
According to Coram International a situation analysis on children in
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (2017), the growth of
special education in the region is extremely limited data on the number of
children with disabilities, SPED center and SPED teachers in the region's
education system. All of these were the lowest figures across all regions in the
Philippines. However, more up to date data would likely show an increase given
the introduction of five SPED centers in SY 2015-2016 through the Basic
Education Assistance for Muslim Mindanao (BEAM-ARMM) project.
Unfortunately, it is not clear at which school levels these are operating in
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, with the 2016 (Hamilton, et al., 2017).
The researchers moved towards the reading on the literature regarding
special education teacher’s experiences teaching English language to the learners
with special needs in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,
Philippines, yet found nothing. Therefore, this study is relevant and timely and
must be pursued to do more regarding this issue.

THEORETICAL REVIEW

Theoretical Lens
The present study was anchored from the theoretical support of three
learning theories: The Behaviorist Learning theory of Ivan Pavlov and B.F
Skinner, Constructivist Learning theory of John Dewey and Cognitive Theory of
Multimedia Learning of Richard Mayer.
Accordingly, the three learning theories: The Behaviorist Learning theory
of Ivan Pavlov and B.F Skinner in which teachers in a classroom can utilize
positive reinforcement to help students better learn a concept. Students who
receive positive reinforcement are more likely to retain information moving
forward, a direct result of the behaviorism theory. Second theory is
Constructivist Learning Theory of John Dewey, the basic premise of
constructivist theory is that people are said to learn when they have gained
experience from what they learn. Therefore, to introduce new concepts, teachers
need to discuss first some related ideas that are already familiar to the students

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and lastly, the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning of Richard Mayer

centers on the idea that learners attempt to build meaningful connections
between words and pictures and that they learn more deeply than they could
have with words or pictures alone which is referred to as the multimedia
principle, are the foundation of the current study for the laid the pattern of SPED
English strategies in handling learners with special needs.
Therefore, teachers are encouraging to use multimedia wherever possible
to enhance the accessibility of the traditional learning environment specifically
in teaching learners with special needs in the new normal setting, hearing
impaired students and child with autism in a distance learning. But at the same
time, teachers need to invest the best efforts to ensure the multimedia resource of
the SPED teacher that will aid special education needs of the learners. Cognitive
Theory of Multimedia Learning of Richard Mayer can offer the potential to
significantly improve the accessibility of the learning environment and, indeed,
extending the learning environment to otherwise inaccessible places for disabled
students.
These theories will guide the SPED English teachers to create a learning
environment which would supply learners with disabilities the alternative means
of communication and development. SPED English Teachers can provide enough
assistance to the students learn to complete the tasks independently and provide
an environment that enables students to do harder tasks than would otherwise
be possible.

METHODOLOGY
This research study used a qualitative approach utilizing
phenomenological approach to describe the lived experiences of special
education teachers teaching English to the learners with special needs. The
participants of this study were five (5) special education teachers, who were
chosen using convenience sampling technique, where data gathering comes from
people which easiest to reach and the availability to participate in the research
study. According to Cresswell, W. J & Cresswell, D.J (2018) stated that
phenomenology is typically ranging from three (3) to ten (10) participants.
Furthermore, the researchers used a semi-structured in-depth-interview
guide questions in data collection which is consider best fitted instrument to
gather the needed data required in this study. The questions in the interview
guide were divided into three main questions. The participants’ background
information was the subject of the first question. The goal is to build a connection
with the research participants so that the researcher can gather more detailed
information later. Second was on the part of special education teachers’
experiences in teaching the learners with special needs. This revealed the
experiences of special education teachers in handling learners with special needs.
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Third is on the reasons why special education teachers are struggling and in
which part of teaching the learners with special needs they found challenging.
Lastly, the coping strategies of special education teachers in addressing those
challenges encountered.
According to Kumar (2019), a request letter produced by the researcher
relieves pressure on the receiver and protects the sender from shame. The
recipient has adequate time to think over his response, and the sender may
readily accept a written no. The researcher collaborated with the school
president, participating school, and participants when the request was
authorized. After that, for the qualitative components of the study, the
researchers requested the special educators to do an interview at their leisure
during school visits. The interview was conducted in a quiet room with the aid
of an audio recorder to precisely transcribe each response. The researchers
conducted the interview in a quiet room and utilized a phone recorder to
correctly transcribe each response. The researcher copied the facts verbatim and
in order after the interview.
Instead of utilizing the participants' information throughout the
transcription and analysis of the interview and observation, the researchers used
codes to maintain the anonymity and privacy of the participants in this study.
Also, thematic analysis was used to uncover comparable topics and achieve data
saturation; the table contains all of the research questions and responses.

RESULTS/FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

SPED teachers’ experiences in teaching learners with special needs in the context of
COVID 19 pandemic
The emergent themes were generated from the SPED teachers’ responses
on their new normal teaching experiences as follow: (1) Limited to Access to
Child’s Progress, (2) Difficulty to Teach Finger Spelling, (3) Limited face- to -face
classes for hearing impaired learners, (4) Lack of Strategy to Assess Students
Works Properly, (5) Inadequate Time to Plan Strategies and Assessment.

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Table 1 : Themes on the Experiences of the SPED teachers in Teaching Learners

with Special Needs in the Context of COVID 19 Pandemic
SPED Teachers’ Experiences in Brief Description of the Sped
Teaching Learners with Special Teachers’ Experiences
Needs in the Context of COVID 19
Pandemic
Limited to Access to Child’s Progress The SPED teachers’ experiences in
teaching in the new normal cannot
assure if their special needs learners
are learning properly in the new
normal setting.
Difficulty to Teach Fingerspelling Teaching the learners with hearing
impairment the fingerspelling in the
pandemic makes teaching more
challenging.
Limited face- to -face classes for SPED teacher concerned is teaching
hearing impaired learners the learners with hearing impairment
in the new normal setting.
Lack of Strategy to Assess Students Most of the times the parents of the
Works Properly learners are the one who answer their
child’s worksheet, by that, SPED
teacher cannot assure if their learners
are learning at all.
Inadequate Time to Plan Strategies SPED teacher difficulties on sorting
and Assessment differentiated learning materials,
differentiated strategies and
assessment to the learners during the
new normal classes.

Limited to Access to Child’s Progress

During the new normal teaching of SPED teachers, it was found out that they
are facing challenges on the progress monitoring of their learners, due to the
limited access of the child to their teachers. The SPED teacher cannot assure if
their learners are learning properly in distance learning, even in a video recorded
lesson teachers cannot assure if how many times it was taken till perfectly done,
and some parents are answering their learners’ worksheets and that raised the
concern of the SPED teacher in teaching today. The transcription is shown below:

“…It is a challenge for me, because as a teacher you have a limited access in the child’s
assessment, you don’t see it right away. For example, you are in a classroom, you can

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instantly say the instruction on how to put rice cake in the molder, however when the
learners at home you cannot assess if how many times it takes to perfectly done, even if it
is recorded. Such cases, I’m struggling in the new normal set up…”(Participant 1, lines
147 to 158)

The response above showed that when teachers are thrown into distance
learning without any training or preparation, the results can be explosive.
Glessner and Johnson, (2020) stated that despite the fact that there has been a lot
of research done on how to prepare, there is limited research on teaching and
learning in online environments, making it difficult for teachers to be effective.

Difficulty to Teach Finger Spelling

Teaching finger spelling is one of the challenges experienced by the SPED
teachers, teaching learners with hearing impairment is a double struggle in their
part in teaching in the new normal. The transcription is shown below:

“…when the pandemic came, I am struggling when it comes to teaching finger

spelling such as A and B, because you cannot hold their hands to demonstrate the
spelling, they really in need of assistance to the finger spelling because their motor skills
is not fully developed...” (Participant 2, lines 345 to 353)

The response above clearly shows that teaching learners the fingerspelling
in the new normal teaching is difficult. Alawajee (2021) stated that learning sign
language online has major disadvantages, such as limiting the capacity to
practice sign language with others and preventing complete and direct contact
between learners and teacher.

Limited Face-To-Face Classes for Hearing Impaired Learners

SPED teachers concerned in teaching hearing impaired students arose
during the normal setting, SPED teachers suggested that hearing impaired
learners need a face-to-face contact with their teacher. The transcription is shown
below.

“…I am really struggling at this time Nan, more likely to those hearing-impaired
students they really need a face-to-face class, I am struggling because it not on my
field of specialization…” (Participant 3, lines 126 to 129)

The response above urges that special education learners with hearing
impairments should have a face-to-face teaching. According to Webster, R., and
Blatchford, P. (2019), in a pandemic situation, a lack of communication with a

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teacher results in levels of learning especially to the learners with hearing

impairment.

Lack of Strategy to Assess Students Works Properly

SPED teachers’ assessment on learning is also a challenging experience,
assessing the learners progress in distance learning is hard to see. The
transcription is shown below.

“..It became difficult to assess students learning, because most of the time their
parents are the one whose answering their worksheet, every student has different
modules and approach, maybe their parents lack of patience leads them to answer their
child’s worksheets...” (Participant 4, lines 127 to 164)

The response above showed that SPED teachers have a low viewpoint on
their learner’s worksheet during this mode of teaching, resulting to the lack of
strategy to assess their students work properly. Luana, (2021) carried out that the
malpractice of parents answering their children’s modules is an outgrowth of the
challenges faced by the parents, such as poor reading and writing skills of their
children and time constraints due to work and household chores. If these issues
are not address, the modular learning will fail and no learning will occur.

Inadequate Time to Plan Strategies and Assessment

SPED teacher is having a hard time in preparing variety of approaches and
different kinds of assessment to their learners in the new normal setting. The
transcription is shown below.

“…Okay, especially we are in the new normal and we are making those alternative and
different modes, so. It is difficult to teach, because you are not preparing one
strategy but different kinds of assessments and approaches, so that is the
problem...” (Participant 5, lines 304 to 316)

The response above showed that teachers must be knowledgeable and has
a broader grasp of essential concepts in order to utilize them with planning
delivering and assessing inclusive teaching and learning. Allam & Martin, (2021)
stated that SPED teachers are lacking of strategies in dealing learners with
disabilities especially in the new normal set up.
The transition from pre-pandemic to new normal education has been a
twice-challenging experience for SPED teachers and special education students
in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) region.
In fact, teaching during the pre-pandemic period was already a difficult task for
the teacher; imagine how difficult it is now. Teachers were already dealing with

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disruptive student behavior, tantrums, and other behavioral issues before

COVID-19. However, different strategies in distance learning teaching occur
during the pandemic, with most SPED teachers in the Bangsamoro Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) region maximizing the use of modular
and worksheets, and parents serving as a way of knowing in assessing their
child's learning materials.

The Challenges Encountered of the SPED English Teachers to the Learners with Special
Needs
The participants stated similar difficulties in teaching English language to
the SPED learners from the in-depth-interview. According to participant, they
find difficulties in teaching the students because they handled mixed disabilities
in one classroom, (1) poor comprehension of the students, (2) poor parental
educational attainment, (3) tantrum challenging behavior, (4) and inadequate
funding and government support.

Table 3: SPED teachers’ responses of the challenges in teaching English to the

learners with special needs
The Challenges Encountered of the Brief Description of the SPED
SPED English Teachers to the Teachers’ Experiences
Learners with Special Needs
Various teaching methods for Teachers’ adjustment to the academic
students with special needs and general environment in handling
different disabilities in one classroom.
Poor comprehension Most pupils with special needs have
poor comprehension level during
class discussion, as a result, teachers
used creative teaching methodology
to cope up the lesson.
Parents low educational attainment Parents have poor educational
affects learners with special needs attainment, affects the learning of
students with special needs on the
new normal set-up.
Tantrum-Inducing Behavior Disruptive behavior and emotional
outburst of students with special
needs are difficult to handle by the
SPED teachers.

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Various Teaching Methods for Students with Special Needs

Four participants stated that managing multiple disabilities in one
classroom is really difficult. As a teacher, you must level yourself to them and
use a variety of teaching methods that are suited for their requirements. The
transcriptions are shown below:

“…the particular teaching strategies that I am using is differentiation, I have seven

(7) pupils, two with hearing impairment, two intellectual disability, one speech, and two
autisms. Their learning style is different from each other; therefore, learning strategies
must be distinct to one another…” (Participant 2, lines 452 to 464)

“…Especially when you encountered different disabilities of the students, yes...”

(Participant 3, lines 21 to 22)

“…we are dealing with different disabilities, different children, different

upbringing, and different cultures of a student that’s why it is really challenging...”
(Participant 4, lines 32 to 51)

“…because they are different, and they have different difficulties, in those differences
of their disabilities it has different level, so you need to focus in that level…”
(Participant 5, lines 389-390)

Every student's ability to accept and process information is different. It is

fair to say that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching
methodologies. This is especially true for children who have special learning
challenges (Bharmal, 2019).
Teachers must be aware of effective teaching approaches for students with
learning difficulties as the number of students with learning disabilities rises. To
utilize techniques in your classroom, however, you do not need to be a licensed
doctor. Understanding any learning difficulties in your classroom is essential to
your students' performance, whether you are dealing with a disruptive student
or a quiet reserved learner (Lynch, 2016).
This is the reason, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(BARMM) SPED teachers are developing alternative teaching approaches to
accommodate their various disabilities, offering lessons based on their level of
understanding and responding to their needs in order to maintain a sense of
balance in the classroom.

Poor Comprehension
Four participants indicated that most students with special needs have
poor comprehension levels, and that some cannot comprehend things to the level

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that is appropriate for their biological age. As a result, teachers had to come up
with new ways to teach the lesson. The following are the transcriptions:

“…the first is comprehension, because not all of them know how to comprehend
things at the
degree that is appropriate for their biological age…” (Participant 1, lines 292- 295)

“…to comprehend, how they comprehend our lesson, so if I will teach letter “A”, I
need to use an object like apple…” (Participant 2, lines 241-243)
“…that’s what I said a while ago, that the reading and the comprehension! It is so
difficult, because even teaching them letter “A” alone, it seems that it takes a day for
them to learn it...” (Participant 3, lines 303-306)

“…in reading comprehension, it usually asks who, how, when? And it is hard for them
to answer these types of questions because they don’t have comprehension...”
(Participant 5; 327-328)

Students with learning disabilities often experience poor comprehension

due to their failure to read strategically and to spontaneously monitor their
understanding while reading. (Graham & Bellert, 2009).
Four out of five participants in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) region believe that pupils with special needs have
poor comprehension. Not all of them know how to comprehend things at the
degree that is appropriate for their biological age.
There are a variety of things that can lead to a reading comprehension
issue. There are also several illnesses that increase a person's chances of
developing this type of reading difficulty (Logsdon, 2021).

Parents’ Low Educational Attainment Affects Learners with Special Needs

Three participants stated that poor educational attainment among parents
has an impact on the learning of students with special needs in the new normal
setting. Some parents are unable to read and understand Tagalog or English
lessons, and others are unable to read text at all. As a result, some teachers will
translate the lecture into another dialect in order for parents to comprehend it.
The following are the transcriptions:

“…because we have Muslim parents who don't speak Tagalog, I'll have to ask one of
my colleagues to translate the lesson into Maguindanaon dialect...” (Participant 1, lines
307-310)

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“…by allowing them to contact and ask me if they had any problems with my module,
particularly with the English lesson, because not all parents are fluent in English and
find the module quite difficult because it is in English format...” (Participant 2, lines 231-
234)

“…when the student's mother is unable to read text, what can you expect when they
are at home? Even if the student attends remedial sessions, it is really tough if the parents
do not support their child at home...” (Participant 4, lines 443-447)

Child behavior is shaped by observation and direct learning experiences

(Dubow, Boxer, & Huesmann, 2009). When parents model achievement-oriented
behavior such as., obtaining advanced degrees, reading, continuing education
and provide opportunities for their children to engage in achievement-oriented
experiences (e.g., library trips, museums, after-school programs), those children
develop the belief that achievement-oriented behavior is valued and expected
(Dubow et al., 2009).
In Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)
region, SPED teachers stated that many parents are unable to speak, read and
comprehend Tagalog and English language due to parents’ poor educational
background, teachers need to translate their modules into the parents' preferred
dialect so that they can comprehend and assist their children with their modules.
Since children learn, in part, by observation, one of the key components to
a child’s success is parental time investment (Kalil, Ryan, & Corey, 2012). Parents’
educational levels strongly influence educational and economic opportunities for
their children (Benner, Boyle, & Sadler, 2016). College-educated parents spend
more time with their children, model achievement-oriented behavior, provide
opportunities for their children to engage in achievement-oriented experiences,
engage in age-appropriate activities, and cultivate their children’s talents. These
behaviors, generally, lead to a child’s educational success. Additionally, high-
income and highly educated parents are more likely to be involved in their child’s
education (Cheadle & Amato, 2011), which is a key factor in adolescents’
educational successes (Cabrera, Peralta, &Kurban, 2018).

Tantrum-inducing Behavior
According to four participants, dealing with disruptive behavior and
emotional outbursts of children with special needs was difficult for SPED
teachers. One of the reasons behind this is that, these children are unable to obtain
their desires. The transcriptions are as follows:

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“…the child became hysterical, and it seemed that I was affected by it. Then my clothing
was ripped off due to his tantrums, and I understood how different these kids are…”
(Participant1, lines 70-73)

“…the most difficult behavior is tantrums, just like autism they get hysterical if they
don't receive what they want...” (Participant2, 261-263)

“…the most difficult when the kids are throwing tantrums. How would handle it, and
how are you going to impart your lesson if they're throwing a tantrum...” (Participant3,
lines 284-285)

“…when my student throws tantrums and throws his belongings, I show him that
I don't like it when he behave that way, and I also have to be serious so that he will listen
to what I say...” (Participant4, lines 815-817)

In a classroom environment, one of the biggest obstacles you may face is

dealing with children with challenging behavior. Not only does the child affect
you trying to teach a lesson and maintain control, but they also disrupt the
productivity of the class as a whole. Children who display challenging behavior
do not usually do so just because they want to. There is often a reason behind
their behavior or it might be their only way of telling you something’s wrong. All
behavior is a form of communication. Therefore, it is essential that you
understand the causes of challenging behavior and know what strategies will
help you deal with it (Collier, 2018).
One of the respondents in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao (BARMM) experienced, that when children became hysterical, she
was deeply affected. There was an instance that her clothing was ripped off due
to her students’ tantrums. According to teacher, tantrums are the most
challenging behavior to manage, especially in children with autism who get
frantic when they do not get what they want or like.

Inadequate Funding and Government Support

Three participants stated that the Government did not provide any financial
assistance to help with classroom needs, project implementation, and mobility
impairments equipment for kids with special needs. The following are the
transcriptions:

“…what we have now is only seminar, but when it comes to our classroom needs, it is
truly our initiative as a SPED teacher to seek aid from politicians, as we have never
received any help from the DepEd…”(Participant 3, lines 344-347)

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“…the government has simply provided us with webinars. They sent us to Cebu and Ilo-
Ilo for seminars, but how are we going to use what we've learned if we don't have any
financial support. We still don't have Item until now. All the things in my classroom
were either donated or purchased with our own money...” (Participant4, lines652-
659)

“…actually, they did not provide, they did not help, and it is quite different in
Cotabato City. In terms of the local government unit, actually our problems here are;
problems in collaboration, problems in linkages, and problems in networking, I'm not
sure if they simply don't recognize this special education program or if they
simply refuse to support it...” (Participant 5, lines 396-398)

Special needs students require varied educational and support services. In

this coronavirus pandemic, many families face tough decisions as the
responsibilities for health care, therapies and education are falling on their
shoulders. Meanwhile, many parents are also facing their own financial
challenges (Epperson, 2020).
SPED teachers in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(BARMM) experienced difficulties in providing for the needs of their students.
Teachers' personal money are often used to support educational materials and
other classroom necessities. When they ask for assistance from their local
government unit, they are frustrated by the delays and, in some cases, no
response at all.

The Coping Strategies of the SPED English Teachers in Addressing the Challenges to the
Learners with Special Needs
Participants used the following coping strategies in teaching learners with
special during the context of COVID-19 pandemic; (1) home visitation, (2) K to
12 curriculum integration, (3) educational mainstreaming, and (4) individualized
educational plan.

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Table 4: SPED Teachers’ responses to coping strategies in teaching English to

learners with special needs
The Coping Strategies of the SPED Brief Description of the SPED
English Teachers in Addressing the Teachers’ Experiences
Challenges to the Learners with
Special Needs
Home visitation The teacher evaluates the student at
home in order to keep track of the
students' requirements.
K to 12 curriculum Integration Teachers integrate the K to 12
curriculum guides in order to assess
SPED students in their learning.
Educational Main Streaming Learners with disabilities may be able
to be promoted to regular classrooms
if their developing learning process
keeps up with those of a regular
student.
Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) SPED teachers in BARMM were using
individualized education plans to
assess appropriate assessment of
learning to the disability of the child.

Home Visitation
Three of the participants stated that teachers visit students at their homes
for students’ progress monitoring. The transcriptions are as follows:

“…my co-teachers ask for permission to home visit their students, such that in an
alternate way, in order for us to see our learners and to monitor their progress...”
(Participant1, lines 163-165)

“…yes, I go for home visitation, but only for those few students who really needs to be
monitored...” (Participant3, lines368-370)

“…I visited some of my students at their home to see if they were okay, but it was
only for twenty minutes...” (Participant 3, lines 453-465)

Kilgore (2014) stated that, a home visit is a way for students, families, and
teachers to connect at school and at home. It is not surprising that many teachers
are struggling to adjust to this new normal, given these new modes of teaching,
and the fact that not all SPED learners in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region

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in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) region have access to the internet or mobile

phones, modules and worksheets are the primary bridge between teachers and
students in the pandemic.
Therefore, visiting a student's situation, teachers gain a better
understanding of the factors influencing their behavior during the modular class.
With a better understanding of a student's background and influences on
behavior, a teacher can adjust her approach to working with students, resulting
in a more meaningful relationship between the teacher and the students.
Flannery (2014) stated that home visits also provide a unique perspective for a
classroom teacher.
As a result, through limited home visits, teachers can keep track of their
students' progress while relieving the burden of worrying about the child's
situation.

K to 12 Curriculum Integration
Three of the participants use the K-12 curriculum guide to assess student
with special needs in terms of their particular learning needs. The following are
the transcriptions:

“…yes, but for the first three weeks, I'm using a module that's the same as the one
for kinder; in fact, all of us in SPED Teachers are using the same module. After three
weeks, we as SPED Teachers begin to create some SPED activities that are suited to each
disability...” (Participant3, lines 109-113)

“…yes, we do; we use functional curriculum for multi-disability, self-care, and

numeracy, but no English. So I'm utilizing the same curriculum guide that they use
in kindergarten. There is no curriculum guide for disabilities provided by division, but
we follow the SPED pattern for every impairment...” (Participant4, lines249-261)

“…yes, it is still SPED, although sometimes we are using curriculum guide from K to
12, we cannot integrate beyond the K to 12...” (Participant5, lines548-551)

SPED teachers frequently integrate lessons and topics from kindergarten

to elementary to meet the needs of their students. Brown (2016) stated that
curriculum integration engages students as active learners who maximize their
study options. Teachers may be able to integrate carious sources of knowledge
that is appropriate to the child disability, curriculum integration involves student
as active learners who make the most of their study choices (Brown, 2016).
In this result, SPED teachers in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) region integrate the concept of K to 12 curriculums
to establish different kinds of strategy that suits the learners need.

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Educational Mainstreaming
Three of the participants stated that the teachers mainstream students with
special needs who are ready to attend regular classes. The transcripts are as
follows:

“…the child can stay for at least two (2) years, before you can promote them to the
regular class, which what we called mainstreaming, so I decided to let that child
stay with me for two years and then I saw her progress...” (Participant2, lines 61-6

“…I have a student with autism she is in the regular class, her named is Mabby, she
is very hyper and loves to play “clay” so much...”(Participant4, lines 736-739)

“…yes, before I had two kinder, ahh… in previews year, we called it

mainstreaming to an inclusive education. However, I do not have the previous years
because their parents asked them to stop. Yes, and I have those students during their IEP
I told their parents that their child was ready based on my assessment and observation…”
(Participant5, lines 491-503)

Students who are mainstreamed in special education have the right to

spend at least one class in a regular classroom to see if they are ready for the
challenge. Kargin (2006) emphasized the factors influencing mainstreaming
success include the collaborative efforts of special needs parents, school staff,
general education classrooms, and teachers, all of whom must work together to
prepare for mainstreaming and activities.
In this result, the transition program is intended to help special students
become functional despite their disabilities; its goal is to make them enjoy their
daily lives while also empowering them to become more independent. The role
of the SPED teacher in the transition program has a significant impact on the
development of the learners.

Individualized Educational Plan (IEP)

The five participants stated that the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) SPED teachers used customized educational plan
to evaluate appropriate learning assessments based on the child's disability. The
following are the transcriptions:

“…because here we are using IEP, not generalized but individualized, it means
different disability, different needs...”(Participant1, lines 145-147)

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“…basically, in regular class they have their lesson plan, a lesson plan that is intended
for all, so in SPED, IEP is intended for each children, so each children is different,
different IEP’s will be used...”(Participant2, lines345-347)

“…we have different uhm… how do you call this ah…lesson plan for children
with autism, we also have lesson plan for learning disability, and lastly, we have
lesson plan for intellectual disability such like that...”(Participant3, lines115-116)

“…we are using individualized educational plan, it includes what to use, your
objectives to a child, and every child has IEP, everything about the child
plan...”(Participant4, lines265-269)

“…yes because we have different IEP’s, we are making it, individualized

educational plan, so each learners have different IEP, it is because we have the basis for
recommendation and suggestion of their assessment...” (Participant5, lines250-253)

According to Morin (2020) an individualized educational plan (IEP) is a

strategy for assisting students with learning disabilities and other difficulties in
school.
In results, SPED teachers in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) region are using (IEP) as the results revealed, SPED
teachers' coping strategies to address their challenges include integrating an
individualized educational plan (IEP) and K to 12 curriculums, an individualized
teaching plan that aims to differentiate the appropriateness of lessons to students'
disabilities.

CONCLUSIONS
The study's findings revealed that distant learning is not suited for special
education pupils in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(BARMM) region who have learning difficulties. Teachers' experiences were
unclothed; dealing with learners with special needs was difficult even before the
pandemic, and it became twice as difficult in the new normal education; it
necessitates a great deal of effort from special education teachers when dealing
with various disabilities, creating individualized modules and worksheets, and
preparing various strategies that suit the learner’s disability
Furthermore, special education teachers cannot guarantee that their
students are learning, for example, when parents are the ones who answer the
child's worksheets, and when teachers use video recorded output, they cannot
guarantee how many times it was taken until it was done perfectly, and concerns
arise from poor parental educational attainment, which affects the child's
progress. Despite the special education teachers' complaints to the government

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Vol. 1, No. 7, 2022 : 1343-1364

support system, and their feelings of being ignored or undervalued by many

government sectors in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(BARMM), the instructors continue to seek assistance from various non-
governmental organizations (NGO) and well-known institutions. During their
years of teaching, special education centers faced a variety of challenges,
including insufficient funding, a shortage of learning materials, and inadequate
facilities.
Moreover, this study focused on the lived experiences SPED English
teachers to the learners with special needs. The participants of this study were (5)
SPED teachers. This study was conducted in the selected places located in the
parameters of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(BARMM), Philippines. Special education teacher is a lifetime commitment; their
work includes not just teaching the child, but also sharing empathy with all of
the students under her supervision, functioning as a mother, caretaker, and
teacher. Special education instructors' coping mechanisms to handle their issues,
according to the findings, include combining an individualized educational plan
(IEP) and K to 12 curriculums, which is an individualized teaching plan that
seeks to differentiate the appropriateness of lessons to students' disabilities. As
well as, home visits aid teachers in evaluating students' progress during the new
regular sessions, and SPED teachers identify the most susceptible youngsters
who struggle during the online form of instruction. Finally, the government,
parents, school administrators, and the community all assist teachers in their
efforts to teach special needs students.

FURTHER STUDY
This study may aid future special education researchers, particularly in
the BARMM region; this study may serve as a roadmap for future research
endeavors, particularly in fulfilling the gap of this research in different aspect of
special education teaching that focuses on online learning experiences,
challenges of distant learning and coping mechanism of online learning mode of
teaching.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The researcher would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to the
following persons for their contribution and support in the completion of this
study.
Mrs. Abegael B. Billoso RN, MSciEd., the Academic Head of IBICCI, for
the wisdom and all out support.

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Johana U. Caka, LPT, Education Department Head, and research

instructor for sharing her suggestions, guidance, valuable advice and help during
thesis writing, which meant so much for the completion of the study;
To the validators Sir Paul John M. Villaries, LPT, MAELT and Sir Rustom
P. Baloyo, MAELT for their constructive feedback and suggestion for the study’s
improvement;
Adulcader M. Alsoufi, LPT, MAELT their thesis adviser for sharing his
expertise during the writing and correcting the manuscript for the betterment of
the study; To the Five Participants of this study for being approachable, and
cooperative for spending their time in answering he interview questions;
To the beloved families of the researchers, for their unending financial
support. Most importantly, the researchers would like to express their heartfelt
thanks and love to the ever-loving and merciful GOD for touching and bringing
them together.

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