Identifying the Educational Challenges of Hearing Impaired Children from the Perspective of Teachers: A Phenomenological Study

Teachers' ignorance of the challenges and different educational needs of students with hearing impairment is an obstacle to achieving the educational goals of this group of students. The aim of the present study was to analyze the lived educational experiences of the teachers of elementary and middle school students with hearing impairment, the challenges faced by the teachers of these students and the solutions. In this research, qualitative approach and descriptive phenomenological method were used. The field of research included the teachers of the school for children with special needs in Sanandaj city in 1401-1402 with the purposeful sampling method. The research tool was a semi-structured interview made by the researcher, which continued until the saturation level with 8 teachers at the primary level and 3 teachers at the secondary level. The findings of the research were presented in two sections: teachers' educational challenges and suggested solutions. The challenges section was presented in three parts: 1. Challenges related to books, facilities, methods and educational tools, 2. Challenges related to teachers' conditions, and 3. Challenges caused by the characteristics and conditions of hearing impaired children and their families. The solutions section was divided into two parts: 1. Solutions implemented by teachers and 2. Suggestions. The results showed that teachers are faced with diverse, complex, multidimensional and beyond educational challenges of normal students during education. Therefore, it is suggested to use methods and solutions that are different from normal students and appropriate to the special conditions of these students when teaching students with hearing impairment.