Home-School Partnerships in Singapore's Special Education Schools: A Case Study
Date
2020-07-07
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Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions and experiences of parents of children with disabilities regarding home-school partnerships in special education (SPED) schools in Singapore. The research involved nine parent participants who had been involved in home-school partnership for more than seven years. Key findings revealed several factors facilitating a positive home-school partnership. These included the parents' beliefs, values, and cultures; the school leader and professionals' attributes, communication practices, and the perceptions of parents and their children; parental involvement opportunities in the school. Similarly, there were several factors that hindered a productive collaboration. They were parallel to the positive factors, but with the addition of the following: parents' perceived lack of knowledge and skills, constraints related to their time and work, differences between parents and the school about educational pathways and goals for students, time and location of individualized education plan meetings, and the absence of a national policy. These factors interacted and intersected with one another to depict the multi-dimensionality and complexity of home-school partnerships in the Singapore SPED context. Besides these, the findings also showed that there was a disconnect between the rhetoric and the practice of home-school partnerships in the Singapore special education schools. This disconnect could best be addressed by taking into consideration the beliefs, values, expectations, perceptions, and opinions of the SPED parents.
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Keywords
case study, special education, home-school partnership, facilitators, barriers
Citation
Ang, M. S. L. (2020). Home-School Partnerships in Singapore's Special Education Schools: A Case Study (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.