Japanese Mathematics Teachers Instructional Management in Handling Learners with Exceptionalities: A Case Study

This qualitative study in a single case, conducted in  秋田大学教育文化学部附属特別支援学校(あきただいがくきょういくぶんかがくぶふぞくとくべつしえんがっ) (Akita University Faculty of Education and Culture Affiliated Special Support School) and 秋田県立視覚支援学校(あきたけんりつしかくしえんがっこう)  (Akita Prefectural Visual Support School) in Akita City, explored Japanese Mathematics teachers’ instructional management in handling learners with exceptionalities, describing special educators’ instructional management styles, approaches, challenges and coping mechanisms. A validated interview guide was utilized to collect data from in-depth interviews and focus group discussion using Creswell’s (2003) data recording procedures and Colaizzi’s Data Analysis (1978) for data analysis and interpretation.  Findings revealed that special education teachers, regardless of gender, lack training as instructional managers and are not confident of the efficacy of the instructional management they employ, thus needing instructional management accountability.  On the other hand, special education teachers, who are mostly women, adopt adaptive coping mechanisms and consider team teaching as the strongest anchor of support system.