Using Photos To Facilitate Parent-teacher Communication In An Early Childhood Special Education Classroom
Date
2022
Authors
Contributor
Advisor
Department
Instructor
Depositor
Speaker
Researcher
Consultant
Interviewer
Narrator
Transcriber
Annotator
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Volume
Number/Issue
Starting Page
Ending Page
Alternative Title
Abstract
Technology has been brought into the educational milieu changing the way teachers and parents communicate. It allows teachers and parents to communicate conveniently while also facilitating the sharing of a variety of media (i.e., photos or video). Photos paint a visual picture of learning in the classroom, allowing families a glimpse into their child’s school experiences. Presenting information in two modalities, visual and written, is more effective and may help parents better understand what their children are doing and learning in school. Unfortunately, current special education reporting systems rely on written communication when sharing student progress toward educational goals. The lack of visual information is problematic.Little research exists exploring the role of photographs for parent-teacher communication in early childhood special education settings. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore the role of photographs in email communication with parents of a preschool-aged child with a disability. It aims to understand how photographs facilitate communication, parents’ perceptions toward photographs, and the use of media for communication. The six participants are parents of a preschool-aged child with a disability enrolled in an early childhood program at a public school in Hawaiʻi. The analysis of survey, interview, and email documents resulted in 31 codes, 10 categories, and five themes which helped to answer the study’s three research questions. Findings demonstrate a better understanding of how photos helped communication by providing parents a visual of the child’s day, clarifying written communication, and personalizing communication. Additional findings suggest that photographs may have elicited feelings such as appreciation, comfort, engagement in communication while also connecting parents to their child’s learning and fostering parent-teacher relationships. This research offers implications for teachers and recommends policy changes at the school, district and state levels.
Description
Keywords
Early childhood special education, Parent-teacher relationships, Visual communication, Parents of children with disabilities--Services for
Citation
Extent
Format
Geographic Location
Hawaii
Time Period
Related To
Related To (URI)
Table of Contents
Rights
Rights Holder
Local Contexts
Collections
Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.