TECHNOLOGICAL, PEDAGOGICAL, AND CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS IN QUEZON PROVINCE

The study assessed the technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge of special education (SPED) teachers in the Department of Education (DepEd) Division of Quezon province. It made use of mixed-method type of research involving descriptive survey and narrative inquiry and determined the demographic profile of the respondents; assessed the level of knowledge of respondents in terms of technology, pedagogy, and content guided by the TPACK model; explored how respondents address the challenges in the Special Education (SPED) program in terms of the TPACK areas; and tested whether there is a significant difference between the level of competencies of the respondents and their demographic profile. The data gathered utilizing an expert validated survey type questionnaire and the results of the focus group discussion were collated and analyzed through the use of appropriate statistical tools and qualitative analysis method, respectively. The most significant finding of the study pointed out that respondents have a very high level of technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge and were able to address various challenges in SPED through maximizing their own resources, exploring alternative teaching strategies and styles, self-mastery of content and subject matter, among others. The study concluded that the majority of the respondents were 31-40 years old; females; has Master’s degree units in SPED; and has been serving in their current field or profession for at least 5 years; the respondents have varied strategies to address challenges in the SPED program; and there were significant differences found among variables. With the foregoing conclusions, it is hereby recommended that SPED teachers to utilize the SPEDy mobile application as study’s output and SPED instructional material to provide clearer guidance to children with speech, language, and communication needs and also provide deeper insights and conclusions on how to improve the learning process in the context of special education (SPED).