An Exploratory Study on Preservice Special Education Teachers’ Experiences of Interviewing Parents of Children with Disabilities: Focusing on Family Support Perceptions and Teacher Role Formation

Key Points

• The study aims to understand preservice special education teachers' experiences interviewing parents of children with disabilities to improve teacher training programs.
• Conducted interviews with 16 preservice special education students.
• Participants interviewed 9 parents of children with disabilities.
• Students participated in focus groups to discuss their experiences after the interviews.
• Analyzed collected data using constant comparative analysis.
• Identified four major categories and 14 subcategories from the analysis.
• Restructuring perceptions of families with children having disabilities (factors like parents' psychological stress and difficulty accessing information).
• Recognition of issues in the special education field (problems in support systems and discrimination in inclusive education).
• Understanding of teacher roles and competencies (active communicators and collaborative partners).
• Reflections and suggestions for improving teacher training programs.