Investigation of Teacher Qualifications in Inclusive Education: A Research on Kindergarten Teachers

Abstract

Inclusive education generally includes the education of individuals with special needs in the same classroom environment with their normally developing peers. Thus, the inclusion student will gain social gains with their peers. However, teacher competence plays an important role in inclusive education. The aim of the research is on the competencies of preschool teachers regarding inclusive education. In this direction, firstly, it was examined whether there was a difference in the views of the teachers who had and did not have inclusive students in their classrooms on inclusive education. Secondly, it was examined whether there was a difference between the attitudes of teachers who received and did not receive inclusive education towards inclusive education. The research was carried out in the survey model with a quantitative research design. In this direction, the universe of the study consists of permanent pre-school teachers working in independent kindergartens affiliated to the Ministry of National Education and in kindergartens affiliated to primary and secondary schools in Ankara. Schools with registered inclusive students were chosen as the criteria for the selection of the research population. According to the results obtained from the research data, the teachers emphasize that the family, environment and staff should be informed in order to obtain a successful result from the inclusive education. There was no significant difference in the inclusion qualifications of the teachers according to their inclusive education status. In addition, inclusion proficiency does not make a statistical difference according to the presence of inclusion students in the class.