Diversity in education is a reality that appears before the term “attention to diversity” was coined. In every classroom, there are students who have diverse educational needs arising from different aspects. Covering them means including all educational resources to take advantage of the characteristics of these students and enhance their learning (Zavala and de la Torre, 2015).

In education, good teaching practices have always been related to what should be done to provide adequate education to achieve good learning (Del Valle Ballón, 2012). Some definitions relate good teaching practices to examples of conduct and successful procedures (Anna, 2003 is cited Cid-Sabucedo et al., 2009) or with activity that has been developed, has been evaluated and has been successful (Cid-Sabucedo et al., 2009).

Most of the extraordinary educational measures undertaken to address these schools imply an individualized programming, supports and personal and material resources. The teacher must be supported by specialists such as teachers of Therapeutic Pedagogy (TP) (Gómez Montes, 2005). This is a discipline designed to correct development or learning dysfunctions. It is aimed at those students with temporary or permanent disability that makes more difficult for them to learn the lessons taught, or requires specialized attention to achieve the maximum level of education according to their possibilities (Decree 157/1986 of October 24 on the Management of Therapeutic Pedagogy in an Integrated System, 1986).

In the Canary Islands, students who require very specific attention and resources are cared for in the Specialized Unit (Aulas Enclave, in Spanish) which are located in regular centers of compulsory education (Alegre, 2000).

Teachers specialized in special education require specific competence. They must acquire this competence in their initial (Pegalajar-Palomino, 2014) and permanent education (Sykes et al., 2010; Conklin, 2012; Pegalajar-Palomino, 2014). To make their work in the classroom effective they must use, mix and adapt different strategies, resources and opportunities to the different characteristics, levels and needs of students (Ruiz Rodríguez, 2003; Martínez Geijo, 2007; Pegalajar-Palomino, 2011; González-Peiteado, 2013). Therefore, Special Education is different from the one that takes place in the regular classroom, demanding more dedication from the teacher.

The concept of good teaching practices is becoming more popular and starting to be used at a theoretical level (Bain, 2006), although it has not been defined or pointed which teaching conducts or behaviors represents this concept. The first research studies on regard this topic have been developed with university teachers (Díaz et al., 2015; Borges et al., 2016a,c). However, there is a large body of research about the effectiveness of teachers and teaching. They highlight specific aspects that are of interest, although most are not contextualized in Special Education.

Thus, teaching planning and the organization of the classroom seem to be one of the aspects of most influence the performance in different educational levels (Brophy and Good, 1986). Related to this aspect, several authors point out the importance and influence of an appropriate structure of the lessons to help students in their cognitive development and improve their performance (Mortimore et al., 1988; Renkl and Helmke, 1992; Brown, 2009; Hunt et al., 2009; Orlich et al., 2010).

With regard to the transmission of content by the teacher, research highlights the importance of clearly explaining the objectives of each lesson (Melton, 1978; Cotton, 1995). Other authors point out other aspects which are also relevant, such as the presentation of information in an organized way, pointing out transitions to new topics, using a variety of examples and frequent reminder of the essential principles (Maddox and Hoole, 1975; Smith and Cotton, 1980; Kallison, 1986; Mayer and Gallini, 1990; Hiebert et al., 1991).

Other studies indicate aspects are related with student’s motivation. This is based on psychoeducational principles from which arise various strategies related to arouse and maintain attention, generate cognitive dissonance and positive expectations for learning (Hernández, 1991; Hernández and García, 1995 is cited Hernández-Jorge, 2005). Strategies such as individualized attention, reinforcement, frequent supervision, public and private praises, etc. (Murillo et al., 2011) and the use of diverse activities to adapt to different moments, circumstances, students, etc. (Dalton, 2007; Hunt et al., 2009) are the best for the student to learn. Another important aspect is the use of activities that require the active participation of students. In this sense, the traditional “learning by doing” strategy is still effective (Muijs and Reynolds, 2001).

With respect to the climate generated in class and that is given by the interaction between teacher and students, it is important that the students feel comfortable to participate in the activities (Muijs and Reynolds, 2001). Simple aspects such as greeting or asking about general aspects of the students at the beginning of the class make students feel safe and comfortable (Hernández-Jorge, 2005).

Also, research refers to aspects related to the classroom’s discipline. It has been found that if teachers apply an adequate control method to the unwanted behaviors of the students in the classroom, they will obtain the maximum benefit from teaching (Omoteso and Semudara, 2011). In this sense, the most successful teachers in the control of their class are those who, among other aspects, adequately analyze the different disturbing stimuli of the classroom, use simple rules and make explicit to students and use clear behavioral indicators both verbal and non-verbal (Hernández-Jorge, 2005).

Another aspect that is highlighted by research and that favors a quality education is the evaluation and continuous monitoring of the students (Daloz, 1986; Stronge et al., 2004; Killen, 2005; Brookhart, 2009; Orlich et al., 2010; Murillo et al., 2011). Evaluation is relevant as a way to identify whether students are getting or not proper results (Muijs and Reynolds, 2001; Anderson, 2004; Hattie and Timperley, 2007; Murillo et al., 2011). To do this, the teacher can ask questions or observe the work the student is performing (Pellicer and Anderson, 1995). However, the assessment should not stop here, but the teacher must motivate the students with feedback during their learning process (Muijs and Reynolds, 2001; Anderson, 2004; Hattie and Timperley, 2007; Murillo et al., 2011; Pegalajar-Palomino, 2011), which is also a way to motivate them.

With respect to the orientation that the teacher offers students in their learning process, research emphasizes it is important that the teacher solves any doubt that arises in the students to facilitate the adequate understanding of new concepts (Berliner, 1983; Anderson, 1989, 2004). Provide support (“Scaffolds”) to students so that they can carry out the activities (Palincsar and Brown, 1984; Van de Grift, 2007) is important. Also, the research notes that, among other things, presenting new material in small steps, providing clear and detailed instructions (Rosenshine, 1979), asking questions and providing guided practice has been proved effective, especially with younger students and those who have lower academic abilities than the rest of their age group (Muijs and Reynolds, 2003; Houtveen et al., 2004; Houtveen and Van de Grift, 2006).

Additionally, it is important to highlight it is essential to take into consideration the diversity of needs and abilities within a classroom in order to ensure an education of good quality. This means answering the different needs, expectations, abilities, characteristics, motivations, cultures, previous knowledge, learning rhythms, etc., present in the students (Murillo et al., 2011). Also, to consider activities that are challenging for all students is important (Houtveen et al., 1999; Ainscow et al., 2001; Ainscow, 2007).

To verify that these aspects are taking place is important to evaluate the educational work of the teacher in the classroom. For this reason it is essential to have instruments that are not only accurate, valid and reliable, but it is also important that the instruments are sensitive and allow capturing the differential behavior of teachers in their attention to students with different characteristics and needs. The assessment tools used to operationalize the quality of teachers to measure their teaching performance are various, such as teacher’s materials, briefcases, questionnaires and surveys, interviews and observation (Jiménez, 1999; García and Congosto, 2000; Rodríguez and Ibarra, 2013).

The classroom observation is a proper procedure because it implies a good way of knowing the reality of the classroom, thus allowing us to dig deeper into the exchanges that occur within it every day (Mayorga and López, 2005), and provide evidence to identify areas that should be improved (Pianta and Hamre, 2009).

The objective of this study is to analyze the behavior of two teachers from Special Education in their interaction with students from Preschool and Primary Education who present different educational needs. The aim is to determine whether there are differences on their teaching practices depending on the students with who they interact and their needs. In the first place, we assume that the behavior of Special Education teachers during their educational work in the classroom is adjusted to the characteristics of students with special educational needs. Secondly, we assume that to the extent that the behavior of these teachers is in line with the characteristics of their students, this is indicative of good teaching practices.

The challenge of education is to offer it in terms of quality and equity for all. One of the important aspects of this is to address and respond to the different educational needs presented by students. This requires assessing, among other things, the behavior of teachers in their professional performance in the classroom, as they are responsible to teach and make students learn (Hernández, 2006). Specifically, teachers dedicated to Special Education have special relevance in attention to this diversity in the classroom.

As we have seen in this work, the observational methodology offers us a lot of information but it is important to apply it properly. It is decisive to use valid, accurate, reliable observation instruments. In addition, due to the cost to the time and resources that can be assumed by this methodology, we need to have procedures which allow us to apply it efficiently. In this work we have begun using mathematical procedures as optimization GT (Blanco-Villaseñor, 1991; Blanco and Anguera, 2000; Blanco et al., 2000, 2010) to establish the minimum of codifying time necessary to obtain accurate information that allows its generalizability. From the results obtained in the optimization, we include new sessions. Thus was to ensure the stability of the conduct of the teachers we studied (Borges and Rodríguez-Dorta, 2015; Rodríguez-Dorta and Borges, 2015b).

The behavioral analysis of the teachers from this study allows us to see that they adapt their behavior according to the students with whom they work, giving the most adequate response to their needs.

As it was mentioned, the teacher of TP works with both students from Preschool and Primary Education. The results obtained indicate his behavioral patterns changes depending on the students with who he is working at every moment. Therefore he adapts his way of teaching according to the needs and characteristics of his students. The teacher from Specialized Unit also shows different behavioral patterns.

In the case of the teacher from the Specialized Unit and one of TP when he works with children from Primary School, there are significant patterns in TO follow by the response of the students, AT, and again TO. In addition, in the case of TP with students of Primary School to TO is followed, in the first lag, TE, which is logical since the contents of this educational stage require theoretical explanations.

Non-verbal Revision produces significant patterns only in the case of the TP teacher when teaching classes to students of Preschool Education. Thus, after the NR applies RF to the student or continues to guide him on his learning (GU). On the other hand, the student’s response to questions or approaches of the teacher receives non-verbal supervision (NR). Since there is only one student from this educational stage, the supervision is more intensive and continuous and the teacher is totally focused on him.

The code VR also produces a general pattern in all the cases (VR–AT). However, it is in the case of the teacher of TP where the teacher continues checking to if the students are understanding what they are working on after a response from the students (AT) or a theoretical explanation (TE). This verification process is of great importance in TP. However, in Specialized Unit the priority is another. This discipline supposes reinforcement for students with special educational needs whose objective is to get them to acquire the same knowledge as their regular classmates. However, in Specialized Unit, more than the verification of the acquisition of content, what is really important is to motivate and to guide the students to perform their tasks. Here, due to the educational needs presented by the students, the objective is they become more independent and they again autonomy, moving away from the contents raised with their regular classmates.

Regarding the positive interventions of the students, the answers of the students (AT) to questions and approaches of the teacher, receive both RF and GU by the teacher in all the cases. However, the SP on its own initiative only receives GU in TP with students from Preschool Education and Primary School. RF is obtained in TP with students from Primary School in particular. It is possible that the interventions on the student’s own initiative refers to what they are doing, but on the other two cases, due to the age and characteristics of the students, they refer more to aspects of organizational and general character.

It is important to note how both teachers only use reinforcement to generate motivation. However, there are no behavioral patterns where the teacher encourages the students to the task by highlighting some positive aspect of it, show anticipation of reward or encourage the students to participate. Aspects collected in the instrument of observation through the code MO.

With regard to the negative interventions of students, CD, only produce a significant pattern in TP with students of Primary School. This behavior is followed adequately by CL. This is logical because the teacher of TP teaches three students of Primary School, while Preschool Education only teaches a student. With a greater number of students the teacher requires a greater control and regulation of the group.

The code GI produces a significant reciprocal pattern in the two cases of TP (with students of Preschool Education and with students of Primary School) but not in Specialized Unit. These interactions, as discussed above, are important insofar as these interactions are intended to create a safe and trusting environment and to be a contrast encouraging allowing the students to rest and return to maintain the attention once the task is resumed. In Specialized Unit the contents are very practical. In this case these topics become part of the curriculum to be taught.

To the extent that the patterns developed by the teachers studied are adapted to the different needs presented by the students are indicative of good teaching practices. The patterns obtained indicate that the teachers observed offer support, help, and clear guidelines to perform the tasks through GU after interventions of the students (SP and AT) or after non-verbal supervision of their work (NR) (SP–GU, AT–GU, and NR–GU). This is in line with the results of the research that points out, as a relevant aspect for effective teaching, the importance of the teacher solving the possible doubts that arise in students (Berliner, 1983; Anderson, 1989, 2004) through support (“Scaffolds”) to students so that they can carry out the activities (Palincsar and Brown, 1984; Van de Grift, 2007) and among other things, presenting new material in small steps, providing clear and detailed instructions, asking questions and providing guided practice (Rosenshine, 1979; Muijs and Reynolds, 2003; Houtveen et al., 2004; Houtveen and Van de Grift, 2006).

Another aspect to mention and which is indicator of good practices is they motivate their students to learn by giving them positive feedback (RF) after student interventions or non-verbal supervision of their work (NR–RF, SP–RF, and AT–RF). Several researches highlight the motivation of students as an important aspect for effective teaching. Thus, research refers, among other aspects, to strategies such as individualized attention, reinforcement, public and private praises, etc. (Murillo et al., 2011).

The teachers observed check their students assimilated the contents using questions or non-verbal supervision (VR and NR) after a theoretical explanation (TE) or a response of the students (AT) (TE–VR and AT–VR). The evaluation and the continuous monitoring of students have also been referred by researchers as an aspect which favors effective teaching. These aspects not only allow evaluating the achievements reached by the students, but also provide a motivation strategy for them by offering feedback on their learning process (Muijs and Reynolds, 2001; Anderson, 2004; Hattie and Timperley, 2007; Murillo et al., 2011; Pegalajar-Palomino, 2011). Specifically, literature refers to frequent supervision (Daloz, 1986; Stronge et al., 2004; Killen, 2005; Brookhart, 2009; Orlich et al., 2010; Murillo et al., 2011), asking questions or observing the work that students are doing (Pellicer and Anderson, 1995).

Another important issue on this topic is related with the discipline on the classroom. Thus, an indicative pattern of good practices in the teachers studied is that after CD the teacher applies CL. Applying an adequate control method to an inappropriate behavior allows the students to obtain the maximum benefit from teaching (Omoteso and Semudara, 2011).

Finally, these teachers try to generate a safe climate through GI and, at the same time, with this type of interactions they facilitate the students moments of disconnection that allows them to return to the task with a higher level of attention. Students should feel safe and comfortable to participate in the activities (Muijs and Reynolds, 2001). Literature refers to the climate that is generated in class as one important aspect which has to be taken into account for effective teaching. Thus, simple questions such as greeting or asking students for general aspects favor an adequate climate for learning (Hernández-Jorge, 2005).

These results show that the observational instrument used in this research, PROFUNDO-EPE, v.3, allows to capture the relevant aspects of Special Education professionals through a dynamic evaluation of teacher performance in the classroom. Thus, it is useful to evaluate the initial and permanent education of these teachers, allowing the detection of possible difficulties and establishing recommendations for improvement.

The limitation of this work is that it has been carried out only with two teachers. To check whether the conduct of special education teachers is different depending on the context and if it is appropriate, it is necessary to extend this study to a larger number of teachers in different contexts of Special Education.

Additionally, it is important to point out that the observational instrument used on this study shows, through the Teaching Functions, what the teachers does in their educational work in the classroom. However, it would be extremely interesting to be able to capture how they do it, that is, the specific strategies that the teacher use to explain, guide, reinforce or evaluate. These aspects have begun to be analyzed with university teacher through the Protocol of Observation of the Function of Explanation (PROFE in Spanish) (Borges et al., 2016b). This protocol has been designed to operationalize how the teacher transmits knowledge, collecting all those strategies, resources or observable styles that the teacher uses during the theoretical exposition of the contents.

This aspect has great relevance in order to capture behavioral patterns which represent good teaching practice. The research about teachers and teaching effectiveness refers to specific strategies used by teachers within each of the teaching functions.

Undoubtedly, a particularly important aspect for achieving quality education is that it is capable of giving an appropriate answer to the different educational needs presented by students. Thus, education could maximize their abilities and ensure adequate personal and social development. Therefore, the efforts directed to assess that this is being achieved are a requirement on this area. This requires an evaluation on the development of the educational process that is formative evaluation (Tejada, 1999; López de la Llave and Pérez-Llantada, 2004). It is very important to provide quality education.

The results of this study are part of the research from a doctoral thesis (“Evaluation of the process of teaching behavior in Education Primary and Special”) that was done and presented in the University of La Laguna. This doctoral thesis has the ethical approval of the Ethics Committee of Research and Animal Welfare (CEIBA, in Spanish) of the University of La Laguna, with registration number CEIBA2017-0224. In accordance with the Organic Law 15/1999 of December of Protection of Personal Data (1999, BOE n° 298 of December 14) the written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study (teachers and parents), where they agreed to participate in the investigation, as well as recording their behavior.

In addition, and following the guidelines of the aforementioned law, we request the written observer’s confidentiality agreement.

MR-D has participated in the entire study. AB has also participated in the totality of the work (theoretical review, study planning, method and discussion), except in the analysis. Both authors have participated in the writing of the article.

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.