The study aims to explore the implementation of the individual educational plan (IEP) in mainstream teachers' teaching experience. Special need education (SEN) is a specialized department within schools that works on identifying and supporting students with learning difficulties. Many schools have acknowledged the importance of this department within the school as it provides an opportunity for an inclusive education without discriminating against the child's rights to receive education as same as peers. This IEP consists of specially picked targets according to the child's need in acquiring the lesson. However, there are challenges faced by mainstream teachers in the implementation of IEP. The study is qualitative, employing an interview method to collect data. The results revealed five themes. Results showed that IEP has added to the informants' workload, and because it's time consuming, the informants only investigated the IEP profile when needed. The informants agree that the IEP has improved. If it is applied more diligently, these students can benefit from it greatly.
TopIntroduction
Individual Educational Plan (IEP) is a plan or program designed to ensure a kid with any learning disabilities or physical disabilities. Each IEP must be tailored to a single student and be unique and specific. Teachers, parents, school administrators, related services professionals, and students (whoever is appropriate) can all collaborate to improve educational outcomes for children with special needs concerns through the IEP. For each child with an SEN, the IEP is the cornerstone of quality education and meaningful learning experiences.
In current studies (e.g., Alkahtani & Kheirallah, 2016), these researchers showed the policies established in different countries through a comparative study. The policy serves as a means of fostering excellent communication and sharing responsibility for the most important parts of an IEP. Besides, IEP also consolidates data gathered through research that IEP as an agent of inclusiveness program is a program that is developed to assist in students learning by conditioning behavior that helps them in their learning and social well-being. Students with IEPs must first be diagnosed with any of the thirteen categories of learning difficulties listed under the Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA).
IDEA is an education law from the United States, but many countries have adopted this idea in refining their education law, especially regarding learning difficulties and disabilities. Malaysia is still a stranger to both SEN and IEP, where there are special needs schools, and however, these schools are for children with severe disabilities like mute, deaf, and blind. Our blueprint still has a grey area, especially in identifying and supporting students with learning difficulties. However, international schools in Malaysia are privileged to establish their education because they are paid schools. This privilege led to establishing of the SEN center and the adoption of IEP and other related services to give students the best learning experience.
The IEP has become an increasingly important program in the education industry in the past twenty years. The education policy in each country has been revised from time to time to ensure it fits the current needs in education. IEP is a program that is critically important for SEN students in ensuring equal opportunities for classroom participation and meaningful learning experiences despite their learning difficulties.
In Malaysia, international schools are more likely to adapt and implement this program. Mainstream teachers play an important role in effectively running the program. Hence teacher behavior towards IEP is an important factor in implementing IEP. One of the most important factors in the success of the IEP implementation is the teachers' attitudes towards the IEP preparation process (Kozikoğlu & Albayrak, 2021). Research on the IEP, especially on the policies, student behavior, parents' involvement, and IEP effectiveness, is mostly studied. However, individual work has explored the tea.
Mostly the studies done around IEP are comparative studies between policies or single-place case studies focusing on one area of IEP. This is because the governance of IEP in each education system or even school is different. So, in Malaysia, the IEP has been mentioned in the Ministry of Education blueprint; however, IEP is mostly used in international-based schools in Malaysia rather than local schools. International schools create value; therefore, adopting a new approach or program is challenging, especially in adapting and implementing the program. Hence, there has been little exploring on the IEP implementation; this creates a practical gap in the teacher’s attitudes towards IEP in international schools based in Malaysia. The three (3) research questions that will be investigated are.
- 1.
What is the teachers’ understanding of individual educational plans (IEP) on special educational needs students’ learning experiences at an international secondary school in Petaling District?
- 2.
How does the implementation of an individual educational plan (IEP) on special educational needs students’ learning experiences support teachers in their lessons?
- 3.
What are the challenges of implementing the individual educational plan (IEP) for special educational needs students among teachers at an international secondary school in the Petaling District?