An Examination into Teaching Experiences of Contract Teachers Teaching Individuals with Special Needs

This study aimed to examine the experiences of contract teachers teaching students with special needs. To achieve this goal, this descriptive research was designed within the framework of the qualitative research paradigm. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten contract teachers. None of the participants had a bachelor's degree in special education. Besides, participants were graduates of departments such as sociology, sports management, and pre-school teaching. The students with special needs had an intellectual disability and an autism spectrum disorder. To determine the experiences of contract teachers, the data collected in the fall semester of the 2021-2022 academic year was analyzed via content analysis. Findings indicated that contract teachers were professionally inadequate. To eliminate these inadequacies, contract teachers tried to develop themselves by getting support from permanent teachers, reading books, and researching on the internet.