Evaluation of special education teachers' perceptions of professional self-efficacy in terms of their knowledge of behavior intervention techniques

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the professional self-efficacy perceptions of teachers working in the field of special education in terms of their knowledge of behavior intervention techniques. The "Behavior Intervention Techniques Checklist" developed by the researcher as a data collection tool in the study, the "Frequently Used Behavior Intervention Techniques (SIK-DMT) Knowledge Test developed by Dellaloğlu (2019) and the "Teacher Self-Efficacy Belief" developed by Çolak, Yorulmaz and Altınkurt (2017). scale" was used. The research was conducted with a total of 104 teachers working in the field of special education in public schools in Edirne in the 2022-2023 academic year. In the study, parametric analyzes were preferred because distribution normality was ensured in data analysis. Pearson correlation coefficient, independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used in data analysis in the study. It has been determined that there is no relationship between teachers working in the field of special education and their knowledge of frequently used behavioral intervention techniques and their academic and professional self-efficacy perceptions. Additionally, it was found that there was a low level of relationship between teachers' years of professional experience and age and academic and professional self-efficacy, but there was no relationship between their knowledge of frequently used behavioral intervention techniques. It was determined that although the majority of teachers working in the field of special education stated that they used behavior intervention techniques, they said that it was not effective. It was found that teachers working in the field of special education did not show any differences in professional self-efficacy, academic self-efficacy and behavioral intervention techniques frequently used in special education, depending on the type and gender of the educational institution they work in. It was found that teachers' field of graduation did not show any difference in professional self-efficacy and behavioral intervention techniques frequently used in special education, but it caused differences in their academic self-efficacy perceptions. It was determined that teachers' educational level did not show any difference in their perceptions of professional self-efficacy and academic self-efficacy, but there were differences in behavioral intervention techniques frequently used in special education.