Perceptions of Pre-Service Preschool Teachers' Towards Inclusion

In this study, the effect of special education and inclusion course on the attitudes of pre-service preschool teachers towards inclusion was investigated. In this regard, a total of 96 pre-service teachers studying at the... [ view full abstract ]

In this study, the effect of special education and inclusion course on the attitudes of pre-service preschool teachers towards inclusion was investigated. In this regard, a total of 96 pre-service teachers studying at the department of early childhood education in the Faculty of Education of Cukurova University in the 2015-2016 academic year were included. Convergent parallel design , which is one of the mixed methods, was used to design the study. Quantitative aspect of the study was administrated with single group pretest-posttest methods and “Emotions, Attitudes and Anxiety Scales in regard with Inclusive Education” were used to collect the data.  According to the quantitative results, no statistical difference was found in terms of emotions and attitudes scales (p >0.5). On the other hand, there was a statistically significant difference in favor of post-test in the anxiety scale (p<. 05) after special education course. In the qualitative dimension of the study the interview form was used to present views of pre-service teachers in regard with inclusion and the content analysis was used to analyze the data obtained. Accordingly, twelve categories were specified from the data obtained and three main themes were achieved by combining these categories. In this direction, pre-service teachers stated that they were informed about teacher competencies, children with special needs, and inclusive education after receiving special education and inclusion course. Secondly, it was determined that they were concerned about teacher competencies, family support, peer acceptance, needs and management of the child and school administration. In addition, the results obtained from this study give details about pre-service teachers’  increase in self-confidence and faith in success. When the results of the study were analyzed in general, it can be concluded that  increase in the level of knowledge has also increased the level of anxiety and self confidence of pre-service teachers'.