OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY: APPLIED BUSINESS AND EDUCATION RESEARCH Practices of Teachers and Parents of Learners with Special Educational Needs During Pandemic

The research focused on the practices of teachers and parents of learners with special educational needs during pandemic employing descriptive-correlational research design. It specifically sought the demographic profile of the teachers and parent-respondents. Using purposive sampling, the respondents of the study consisted of 22 teachers and 26 parents from Academia De Santiago of Tarlac, and Angel Beats Play and Development Center, Manila, Philippines. The frequency count, percentage weighted mean, and correlation analysis were used to treat the data gathered from the survey-questionnaire. Results revealed that that the teacher-respondents “ greatly encountered” behavioral problems and “ encountered ” cognitive development problems in handling LSENs; parent- respondents “ encountered” both behavioral and cognitive development problems. There was a “great extent” of practices of teachers while “ little extent ” in parents’ practices. T here was a significant relationship between the demographic profile of the teacher-respondents and the extent of teachers’ practices. Based from the significant findings drawn, this study recommends to upskill teachers’ competencies in handling learners with special education needs. Finally, implementation of the action plan is hereby recommended to improve the behavioral and cognitive aspects of the learners and to further improve practices of teachers and parents of the home-schooled learners with special educational needs during a pandemic and its aftermath.


Background
Being a parent has never been an easy task. Rearing a child from birth until the child enters schooling has different phases of challenges. Parenting a child with special educational needs is even more challenging. The new normal set-up of Distance Learning Delivery Modalities (DLDM) has even made the situation with deeper degrees of difficulties in dealing not only with Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSENS) but to the parent as well. In this time of COVID 19 pandemic and it emerging contagious variants, teachers have to collaborate with parents who provide the child with added learning, extra attention, socialemotional or behavioral needs in a homeschooled environment.
Parents have no choice but to accept and deal with the challenges in the new normal setup of Distance Learning Delivery Modalities (Tallada, 2021). Parents must ensure that their home-schooled learners receive a quality education in home-based schooling. However, now that the educational system turned into its new normal way, parents face even more complex problems with limited or sometimes no clear solutions at all (Shade and Ware, 2020). This claim was supported by Kuo and Coleman (2020) who asserted that appointments, learning therapies, school routines had significantly been affected to minimize the transmission of the Covid virus.

Literature Review
The Theory of Behaviorism noticed the importance of three (3) main assumptions. This theory states that learning is an outcome of an improved behavior; the environment or the situation determines the behavior; including time and reinforcement are two crucial factors in the learning process (K12 Academics, 2021).
The theory of emotional development is another theory anchored to this research. This theory is a combination of the idea of functionalist and the theory of dynamical systems. The approach to emotional development emphasized that a child's environment can provide multiple interconnected activities. These components are all subjected to change as the child's emotions mature and respond more appropriately to varied situations (Saarni, 2011). McLeod (2016) asserted that the social learning theory proposed by Albert Bandura had proved the vital role of observing, modeling by example, mirroring actions, attributes, and emotional responses influence a person's learning behaviors. Thus, social learning theory focused on the environmental and cognitive factors as agents of a person's behavior in learning.
Moreover, McLeod (2020) also looked into Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. This learning theory views that interacting with knowledgeable individuals can be a source to acquire cultural values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies. Concepts such as culture, specific tools, private speech, and the Zone of Proximal Development are the composition of Vygotsky's theory. Thus, learning comes before development.
Piaget's theory of cognitive development focused on learners' capabilities and the realization of such skills. In the cognitive approach, the behavior looks into the connection between psychological structures and behavioral patterns that led children in interpreting information. This theory further explains the improvement in the reasoning capacity of a child after acquiring new skills.
In addition, DepEd Order No. 032 s. 2020 strongly supports RA 9155 as it emphasized that parents, guardians, and other household partners play a complementary and broader role in supporting learners at home. However, most parents do not have enough money to send their children for check-ups and for individual interventions, therefore incapable to manage the behavior of their children.

Methods
This study is descriptive-correlational in nature. It specifically described the demographic profile of the teacher-respondents. In addition, the study also described the problems encountered by the teachers and parents of the home-schooled learners with special educational needs in the DLDM and how serious they are as to behavioral, and cognitive development. Further, the respondents' extent of practices during a pandemic are among the interests of the study.

Respondents
The respondents of this research were the teachers and parents of the LSENs from Academia De Santiago of Tarlac, and Angel Beats Play and Development Center, Manila, Philippines during the school year 2020-2021. Purposive sampling was employed in selecting the respondents. Further total enumeration was used.

Instrument
Transmittal letters and survey questionnaire where used to gauge the degree of the identified problems encountered by the teachers and parents as to behavioral and cognitive development; as well as the extent of the practices of teachers and parents of the homeschooled learners with special educational needs during a pandemic.

Data Gathering Procedures
In the conduct of the study, the researcher observed the gathering and quantification of data through preliminary preparation, sampling, administration/distribution, and retrieval of the questionnaires, data processing, and scoring procedures.

Treatment of Data
The researcher employed the 4-point Likert scale with parametric scaling. The responses to each question were recorded with the aid of a statistician. To arrive at reliable results, frequency and percentage, average weighted mean, correlation analysis as statistical tools were employed. It can be easily gleaned in the findings that majority 6 or 27.27% of the teacher-respondents handle learners with speech delay followed by ADHD 4 or 18.18% and EBD with the same frequency of 4 and percentage of 18.18%. This implies that SPED teachers must be equip with latest pedagogical approaches in attaining educational goals using DLDMs amidst COVID-19 pandemic to address the special needs of these learners.  .

Results and Discussion
It can be easily gleaned in the findings that majority 6 or 27.27% of the teacher-respondents handle learners with speech delay followed by ADHD 4 or 18.18% and EBD with the same frequency of 4 and percentage of 18.18%. This implies that SPED teachers must be equip with latest pedagogical approaches. The findings show that the teacher-respondents collated a verbal description of "greatly encountered" problems in the behavioral aspects of the LENs learners with a noted mean of 2.63 while "encountered" problems in their cognitive development with a recorded 2.28 mean score. This data implies that LENs teachers are experiencing difficulties in dealing with the actions and manners as well in the delivery of learning for the differently-abled children.
Parents must ensure that their homeschooled children receive a high-quality education. However, now that the school system has settled distance learning, parents face even more complex situations with almost no clear solutions (Shade and Ware, 2020). This concept highlighted that cognitions, emotions, and moods are far too subjective as observable behaviors (Cherry, 2021). Generally, the data indicates that generally, teacher-respondents have been practicing thoroughly that develop to a "great extent" experience and learning, thus acquiring the skills in handling the home-schooled learners with special educational needs during a pandemic. A close inspection of the data presented in Table 5 reveals that majority of the indicators noted a verbal description of "little extent" with a recorded total weighted mean of 2.31.
Thus, the extent of practices of parents of the home-schooled learners with special educational needs during a pandemic is generally described as with "little extent". 11. actively participates on academic discussion with other SPED teachers on learner's progress, possible intervention, and other related activities.
12. giving quality time for parental involvement.
13. seeking expert's assessment and evaluation for learner's special educational needs.
14. providing journal of the child's day-today record of behavior, emotion, experiences and learning progress.
15. buying/creating manipulative learning materials as added support in providing the child's specific needs.
The computed overall value of probability (93.667) with a p-value (0.003) that is less than the alpha level 0.05 suggests that the null hypothesis stating that there is no significant relationship between the profile of the respondents and the extent of teachers' practices is rejected. The computed overall value of probability (55.556) with a p-value (0.056) that is greater than the alpha level 0.05 suggests that the null hypothesis stating that there is no significant relationship between the profile of the respondents and the extent of parents' practices is accepted. This means that there is no enough evidence to claim that there is a significant relationship between the profile of the parent-respondents and the extent of parents' practices.

Conclusion
Based from the summary and findings of the study conducted, it is concluded that both teacher-respondents and parent-respondents are struggling in dealing with the identified and encountered behavioral and cognitive development problems of the home-schooled LSENs in the DLDMs. However, the degree of the encountered problems is more concentrated on the part of the teachers. Furthermore, it can also be concluded that the teacher-respondents' demographic profile was significant factor to the extent of teachers' practices. On the other hand, parent-respondents' demographic profile was not a significant factor to the extent of parents' practices among home-schooled learners with special educational during a pandemic.

Recommendation
Based on the findings of the study, it is hereby recommended to upskill and retool teachers' competencies in handling learners with special education needs in the delivery of online teaching-learning and in the formulation of LASs as added supplementary materials; capacitate teachers in offering Special Education Services focusing on IEPs through trainingworkshops; schools may also find ways and means on how they can provide assistance to teachers in terms of providing facilities which are necessary in the implementation of DLDMs. Finally, implementation of the action plan is hereby recommended to improve the behavioral and cognitive aspects of the learners and to further improve practices of teachers and parents of the home-schooled learners with special educational needs during a pandemic and its aftermath.