Determining the opinions of teachers working with individuals with special needs in early childhood on privacy education

Privacy education is a process that starts from the birth of the baby, in which the individual is taught the behaviors of defining and protecting personal boundaries, being aware of the boundaries of others and not exceeding them. Privacy education is a comprehensive education that should be provided in a planned and gradual manner in early childhood. It is thought that the knowledge of privacy education of teachers who establish a close relationship with the child and come into contact with the child has an impact on the child. The purpose of this programming is to examine pieces related to privacy education where contact is made with special intensities in early childhood. The participant group of the research consists of 9 teachers working in official institutions. According to the findings, teachers explain the definition, purpose and importance of privacy education through teachings on the field of physical privacy. It was determined that teachers thought that privacy education should be given at home from infancy and continued at school, that they did not include practices for privacy education in the classroom, and that teachers who did include them resorted to various materials when they encountered a problem regarding privacy. It is seen that teachers think that individuals with special needs in early childhood are at risk because they are vulnerable, cannot express themselves, and are more open to abuse. Teachers stated that they found parents' knowledge of privacy education insufficient and that they did not have expectations from them. The findings of the study were correlated with the findings obtained in the literature and suggestions were made to the practitioners and researchers.