Effectively teaching students with special educational needs (SEN): A template analysis and comparison of mainstream and special education teachers in Flanders

Numerous teachers face significant challenges teaching students with SEN, possibly stemming from a lack of guidance in translating broad principles formulated in teacher effectiveness frameworks into context-specific effective teaching behaviors. This study addresses this issue by outlining teachers' translations and comparing them across teachers from two classroom settings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 mainstream and 12 special education teachers and a template analysis revealed: (1) teachers mentioning a multitude of translations, highlighting numerous general effective teaching principles and (2) key differences between the two teacher groups concerning the ‘within-class differentiation’ and the ‘activating or reviewing prior and background knowledge’ indicator. •Teachers translate broad didactical principles into context-specific teaching behaviors to meet individual student needs.•Teachers in the field confirm the effectiveness of broad didactical principles for students with SEN.•Special and mainstream education teachers use different effective teaching behaviors to support students with SEN.•Special and mainstream teachers differ in within-classroom differentiation and activating prior or background knowledge.