A Study Regarding Special School Teachers' Learning Experiences: Centered on Teaching Students with Severe and Multiple Disabilities

Purpose: This study aimed to explore how the lives and identities of special school teachers change through their experiences of teaching students with severe and multiple disabilities. In particular, it sought to understand how teachers construct the meaning of their educational practices and lives, and how the structural conditions and culture within special schools influence this process. Methods: To achieve this, the study employed a qualitative research method autoethnography through which the researcher reconstructed and interpreted the teachers’ own teaching experiences in a narrative format. Data were collected through the researcher’s personal narratives, reflective memos, and related documents. Results: The findings are as follows: First, the teacher’s role expanded from a focus on instructional tasks to include building relationships with students, caregiving, and ethical responsibilities. Second, the perception of disability shifted from viewing students as deficient individuals to recognizing them as independent beings. Third, the teacher developed a critical awareness of the structural issues within special school culture, particularly the hierarchical classification of students based on disability types. Fourth, the teacher’s personal life was reconstructed around the concept of self-care, emerging from the pursuit of work-life balance. Conclusion: The experience of teaching students with severe and multiple disabilities prompted the teacher to reexamine their educational practices, professional identity, and the meaning of life. These changes were shaped through interactions with institutional conditions. This study highlights the importance of understanding special school teachers’ practices not only as individual efforts but also within broader structural and cultural contexts.