Role of Special Assistant Teachers in Inclusive Classrooms

Section 1: Context and Participants
The study was conducted at Al Qemma School at Al Shammkah, Abu Dhabi, UAE. There were six
participants in the research, of which 2 participants originated from United States of America, two
participants were from UAE and one participant each were from Jordan and Iraq respectively. The
age group of the teachers was from 24-35 and they were responsible for teaching English and
Science. There was only one teacher of UAE who taught Math and Science. It was also learnt that
Teacher A and D from the US and Iraq respectively had about 10 years’ experience. While the other
teachers had 1-3 years of experience. Teacher B from Jordan though had 7 years of experience. All
the teachers who participated in the survey were females and taught classes with either all girls or
mixed of boys and girls both. 45 students of Grade 1 were selected to be a participant of the study.
Section 2: Literature
Interactive communication can be carried out through a variety of means such as eye contact, touch,
movement and other environmental factors. Interaction is understood as the response given by one
person that guides the response of the other people in the interaction process or other individuals
with whom communication is being done. The reciprocity involves working with other individuals to
express an action or reaction to the actions of others. Classroom interactions tend to specify features
such as beginning of something, achieving responses, evaluation of the interactions and follow up on
the interactions. In an effective classroom interaction, the teachers and students have a close
understanding of the activities and the actions and the approaches can be inclusiveness through
competition and cooperation between the students (Bradshaw, Tennant and Lydiatt, 2004). Special
assistant teachers are required to undergo specialized training to ensure that they offer a comfortable
learning environment to their students, carry out assessments, determine the capabilities of the
different students and formulate plans for students that require additional assistance. An increasing
number of teachers are focusing on the formulation of special aides that can assist children with