Examination of the relationship between special education teachers' program literacy, self-efficacy beliefs and levels of commitment to the curriculum

This study aims to examinethe relationship between special education teachers' levels of curriculum literacy, self-efficacy beliefs and commitment to the curriculum. The study also tested, how teachers' levels of curriculum literacy, self-efficacy beliefs and commitment to the curriculum differed according to various demographic variables (gender, educational status, type of school, geographical region, graduation area, and the presence of disabled people in the family/close environment). 437 special education teachers working in schools and institutions affiliated to MEB in seven different regions of Turkey participated in the study in the 2022-2023 academic year. In order to collect the data used in the study; Demographic Information Form, Teacher Self-Efficacy Belief Scale, Teachers' Program Literacy Scale and Curriculum Commitment Scale were applied. In the analysis of data; descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, one-way analysis of variance, Kruskal Wallis test, multiple regression analyzes were applied. As a result of the analyzes made; It was determined that special education teachers had good levels of program literacy, self-efficacy belief and commitment to the program. It was determined that the program literacy and self-efficacy belief levels did not differ according to gender, and the level of commitment to the program differed in favor of women according to gender. It was determined that the level of program literacy and commitment to the program did not differ according to educational status, while the level of self-efficacy belief differed in favor of graduate graduates. It was determined that there was no significant difference in the level of program literacy, self-efficacy belief and program commitment according to the presence of a disabled person in the family or close environment. It has been determined that there are significant differences in the level of program literacy, self-efficacy belief and commitment to the program according to school type, graduation area and geographical regions. It was determined that the level of program literacy, self-efficacy belief and commitment to the program were highly correlated with each other. Finally, it was determined that the level of teacher self-efficacy belief and commitment to the program were predictors of curriculum literacy. The findings of the study show the importance of considering the relationship between special education teachers' program literacy, self-efficacy beliefs and program commitment levels.