Participation of School, Parents and Communities in enhancing the development of Students with special needs: Case study Wachirawit Chiang Mai Chang-Khlan School

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study the components and factors contributing to the success of participation processes by the institution, parents and communities in enhancing the development of students with special needs in regular classes. The samples were administrators, teachers, parents and communities. The data were collected by group meetings. The tools were group meeting record, analyzed by the Content Validity method, using the IOC (Item-Objective Congruency Index). The consistency index in each item was between 0.60-1.00. The research results were analyzed by using content analysis and synthesis. The results were as follow;

In the components of the administrative process: 1) the creation of partners network, with the involvement of stakeholders, participating in the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of operations 2) the creation of an organizational climate which enhanced understanding between schools, parents and communities, promoted student’s welfare 3) the creation of good relationship between schools and communities for participating in planning, conducting, and evaluating the school's operations. 4) in the factor of members' participation, which emphasizes on the decentralized process including participation in the decision-making process by parents and communities. 5) in the factor of assessments, The educational institutions used the internal quality assurance system by integrating the quality assurance process as a part of administration and 6) in the factor of resources support. The school gave an opportunity for all sectors to participate in supporting educational resources.

Factors contributing to the success of participation processes by the institution, parents and communities in enhancing the development of students with special needs in regular classes have important administrative factors, which included 1) the factor of parenting: parents and school had to understand the guidelines of student’s development 2) the factor of communication: the communication between the school and parents consisted of one-way communication and two-way communication. 3) the factor of volunteering: the school provided opportunities for parents and communities to be volunteer to participate in activities and taking care of students. 4) the factor of learning at home: the school received the cooperation from the parents to monitor student’s homework and assignments including giving suggestions about the assignments to teachers. 5) the factor of decision making: the school provides an opportunity for parents and communities to involved in policy formulation in student’s development and to participate in the school’s evaluation process. 6) the factor of collaborating with the community: teachers, parents and community had to manage education that was appropriate for the age and individual abilities of learners and know how to take care them, including understanding the curriculum.