Perception of Stakeholders Regarding the Special Education Professionals’ (Sep) Communication Strategy and Services to Children with Disability

Abstract

Non-governmental organisations are known to engage with services built around providing solutions to the society, some of which include using interventions to address humanitarian causes. At the centre of providing these services is the role of communication in the context of external communication strategy. It is based on this background that the present study investigated the parents’ perception of the services and communication strategy used by the Special Education Professionals (SEP) as a non-governmental organisation to engage with children with disabilities. This study was guided by three research objectives: 1) to explore parents’ perception regarding the services of the SEP to children with disabilities, 2) to find out how parents perceived external communication strategy used by the SEP to engage with parents of children with disabilities, 3) to establish the effectiveness of external communication strategy used by the SEP to communicate with parents of children with disabilities. For theoretical guidance, the study used media richness theory (MRT). The MRT argues that organisations should adapt their messages to their stakeholders (both internal and external) using appropriate communication strategies (e.g., channels, choice of language). The literature review shows that there is an existing gap, especially in the Kenyan context, regarding how external stakeholders like parents perceive the services of non-governmental organisations and their choice of external communication strategies in relation to children with disabilities. Hence, by exploring this topic the present study contributes significantly to the literature in corporate communication. In doing so, the study provides a developing nation’s perspective to scholars’ contextual understanding of the investigated phenomenon. In terms of methodology, the study applied a qualitative research methodology that emphasised the use of Martin Heidegger’s version of phenomenological research design because of its tolerance for researcher’s bias. For sample size and choice of sampling technique the study researched 12 participants (i.e., 11 parents and 1 staff of the SEP) and purposive sampling respectively. While interview was the primary method of data generation, MAXQDA supported thematic analysis was used for data explication and analysis. Some of the key findings showed that 1) parents of children with disabilities perceived the services of the SEP in a positive light based on their lived experiences and the values derived from those services of educational and therapy supports, 2) parents perception of the SEP’s use of communication strategy was positive because of the use of oral communication and mediated interpersonal communication, and 3) participants believed that the SEP’s external communication was effective because it incorporates the aspect of active listening to parents with physically challenged children. From the interview with the SEP’s communication staff, the study found that the organisation has no formal communication strategy even though they have hinted at it in one of their meetings for the need to have one. The study concluded that the services of the SEP hold a lot of significance for parents and the organisation’s use of external communication meets the needs of these participants. Based on these findings, the study recommended 1) the need for a formal communication strategy at SEP, 2) the need to consider including other local languages according to the needs of specific external stakeholders, and 3) the need for periodic communication training for staff of the SEP who engage directly with parents of children with disabilities.