Views of Secondary Education Teachers in Cyprus, Regarding the Information They Receive for Pupils with Chronic Diseases in Their Classes

Abstract

In Cyprus, many pupils with chronic diseases attend public school in regular classes, managing their disease's demands in parallel with their education. Teachers are responsible for both education and management of these pupils at school. They have to see to their safety, but they must also provide equal learning opportunities to pupils with chronic diseases. Therefore, teachers' information about each child's condition and needs is crucial for their better response to the challenge of coping with the unique needs these pupils may have at school and in the classroom. This study's purpose is an initial investigation of the quality of the information teachers receive in this context. Our methodology is qualitative. We conducted twelve interviews with secondary education teachers in Larnaca and Famagusta in Cyprus during 2019-2020. We analyzed our data by applying the Thematic Content Analysis method. Our findings indicated that teachers felt that the school's information regarding pupils with chronic diseases was either incomplete or, even worse, non-existent.