SPED Teachers: The Stories of Their Struggles in the New Normal Education

The COVID-19 pandemic has made considerable alterations and changes in educational approaches, affecting both teachers and students; hence, this research explored the challenges of SPED teachers and the stories behind the new normal education. This descriptive-phenomenological research focused on SPED teachers' challenges and coping methods. Individual interviews, conducted virtually and face-to-face, following the COVID-19 protocol, were conducted to explore the teaching adversities of SPED teachers in the new normal setup further. The researcher transcribed the interviews, of course, with the participants' consent. Thereafter, themes were found. The study identified the primary challenges SPED teachers experienced: lack of parental support, lack of technological expertise, overloaded teaching tasks, assessment of learning, integration of teaching pedagogy in distance learning, and remote intervention of a child's disability. Meanwhile, six themes were generated as teachers' coping strategies: parent-teacher partnership, self-motivation, professional development, and integration of effective strategies. The study also found that coping ways before and during the new context of education are still the same. The parent-teacher partnership was the most useful coping mechanism the SPED teachers applied to the new normal education. During the pandemic, SPED educators must enhance their technological expertise. Future studies should be conducted in other schools and divisions to enrich this study further.