The purpose of this study, as a qualitative research on the secondary school special class teachers’ participation in curriculum education study groups, is to find out about the necessity of curriculum education study groups, effects on the members of the group, improvement methods, etc., based on the special class teachers’ experiences in curriculum education study groups. In order to conduct such a research, 4 study groups from curriculum education study group of secondary school special classes currently actively being operated were selected, and interviews were carried out on 4 representative teachers of these groups.
The results of the analysis are as the following. First of all, the teachers of the special classes were aware that many parts of running their classes were in accordance with the teacher’s decision making and that everything is for the teacher to bear, and the facts that channels for communicating information between the special class teachers made the teachers feel the need for a community studying activities such as curriculum education study groups.
Secondly, the contents of the activities of the curriculum education study groups of the special class teachers, which are currently being actively carried out, collaborative efforts were being made to create a program with the practical contents most needed to the teachers, by re-developing a curriculum program and developing a guidebook for effectively running special classes considering the regional conditions.
Thirdly, the teachers of special classes were growing together through participating in curriculum education study group activities. Through these study groups, the special class teachers solved problems by sharing information related to special education and the experiences in the scene of the school, opportunities for teachers to reflect upon themselves were provided, a time for confirming the identity as a special class teacher was arranged.
Fourthly, in order to become a somewhat better special class teachers’ curriculum education study group, the following required efforts. The representative teacher of the study group must be equipped with problem solving skills based on long experiences and know-hows, as well as the embracement of maintaining good relationships between the members of the group. Also, the representative teacher, along with the role of presenting the proper direction for the study group to proceed, should have the role of endowing motivation for active and positive participation of the members.
The researcher of this study understands the difficulties of the special class teachers working in the scene of the school, and presents the vitalization of curriculum education study group activities as an effective method for enhancing the professionalism of the special class teachers and the quality of special education through the contents and needs actually needed for running classes based on the distinct characteristics of special classes, as an alternative.