Shadow Teaching Scheme for Children with Autism and Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder in Regular Schools

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the place of shadow teaching in the education and training of children with special needs (CSN). The study reveals that shadow and regular teachers agree that shadow teaching helps improve the academic performance, psychosocial skills, and independence capabilities of CSN. Shadow teachers believe that their most important responsibility is team working with regular teachers, whereas regular teachers think that their most important task is
curriculum planning. Shadow teachers rated themselves most proficient in team working and least proficient in curriculum planning. Regular teachers rated the shadow teachers most proficient in behavior management and least proficient in
curriculum planning. There are no significant positive relationships between regular and shadow teachers’ evaluations of the overall importance of shadow teachers’ competence. Problems identified include parents’ unrealistic expectations and interference in managing the child, shadow teachers’ inability to prepare and/follow lesson plans and task analyze, and lack of coordination between regular and shadow teachers.