SHADOW TEACHERS OPINIONS ABOUT THEIR JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

Abstract

Parents of children with disabilities are eligible to apply for additional services to aid their child in the education process. Parents frequently use the service of shadow teachers, but they often end up unsatisfied with the service and change shadow teachers repeatedly. The aim of this research is to a) examine shadow teachers' beliefs about their obligations; b) determine what are their obligations; c) determine what they believe is their level of proficiency in different areas of shadow teaching position and d) determine the discrepancy between what shadow teachers believe their job should be and what job obligations they were expected to do while shadowing a child. The instrument used was the survey distributed by Manansala & Dizon (2008), it was translated into Serbian language and modified. The sample consisted of 36 students of Faculty for Special education who currently work or have worked in the past as a shadow teacher. Since the sample consisted of shadow teachers who are also students of special education, it is expected that most of the sample believe that they are very proficient in all job areas. There was a huge discrepancy between what they believe is their job obligation and what their job responsibilities are in all five areas. Future research implications and study limitations were discussed. Key words: shadow teachers, inclusion, school, disability.