Cultural experiences of special education teachers from the continental United States with students in Hawaiʻi

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2014-12

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University of Hawaii at Manoa

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Every school year the Hawaiʻi Department of Education (HIDOE) recruits hundreds of teachers from the continental United States to fill much needed special education positions (Hawaiʻi Education Policy Center, 2008; Hitz, 2002; State of Hawaiʻi Teacher Retention Information, 2013). Research purports high rates of attrition in special education nationwide are due to working conditions, job assignment, certification status, lack of support from colleagues, principal, administration, low student motivation, discipline problems, behavior issues, and lack of student progress (Castro, Kelly & Shih, 2009, Mansfield, Beltman, Price, & McConney, 2012; Muller, Gorrow & Fiala, 2011). Moreover, cultural challenges experienced by teachers from the continental U.S. in Hawaiʻi may contribute to high attrition rates in the HIDOE. Challenges such as race, ethnicity, and cultural factors as they relate to teacher-student relationships, teacher-family relationship, and colleague, staff, and administrative support were identified as cultural challenges for special education teachers. Despite increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in student population, the majority of the teaching force on the continental U.S. are 85% White, female, and middle class (Howard, G., 2006; Ullucci, 2010), but in Hawaiʻi for general and special education the majority of teachers is stated to be 44% Asian (NCES.gov, 2008). Qualitative research methods such as autoethnography, focus group, and interviews were conducted in efforts to identify challenges related to cultural differences experienced by special education teachers from the continental United States and to identify resiliency factors that contributed to the teachers remaining in Hawaiʻi.

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Special education teachers--Attitudes, Teacher turnover, Acculturation

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Hawaii

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Theses for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (University of Hawaii at Manoa). Education.

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Table of Contents

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