The effect of inclusive education activities applied in the 4th grade social studies course on the social acceptance levels of the students

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of inclusive education activities applied in 4th grade social studies course on the social acceptance levels of students. The research was carried out in a primary school in the city center of Kayseri in the second term of the 2018-2019 academic year. The study group of the research consists of 51 students studying at this school. 25 of these students were in the control group and 26 were in the experimental group. The research was carried out in an exploratory sequential pattern of mixed method designs in which quantitative and qualitative methods were used together. In the quantitative dimension of the research, semi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group was used. For this purpose, the Social Acceptance Scale for Inclusive Education was developed. The qualitative dimension of the research is composed of focus group interviews with students and data obtained from the researcher diary. SPSS 22.0 package program was used in the analysis of the quantitative data obtained in the research. While making the analyzes, the normal distribution of the data was examined with Kolmogorov-Simirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests, and the analysis of the data with normal distribution was used for Covariance Analysis. Qualitative data of the research was analyzed by descriptive analysis method. The results of these analyzed data are shown in tables with frequencies and direct quotations. Based on the quantitative findings obtained in the study, it was concluded that inclusive education activities implemented in the experimental group increased the effect of students on social acceptance levels positively. It is seen that there is a significant difference in favor of the experimental group between the social acceptance scale scores for inclusive education of the students in the experimental and control groups. From the findings obtained from the qualitative data of the research, as a result of the inclusive education practices of the students in the experimental group, the level of social acceptance of the students in the inclusive education process increased, their friendship relations improved, they were eager to teach Turkish as a second language, they took part in games and activities together, helped them, curiosity towards students and they were found to be interested.At the end of the research, suggestions such as enriching the content of social studies in terms of inclusive education topics, conducting more scientific studies on inclusive education and practices, and developing inclusive education activities and projects that will include parents also have been developed.