The comparison of science teachers' attitudes and perceptions of competence towards students in need of special education and their knowledge competencies in this field and their opinions

The main purpose of the research is to identify and support the elimination of deficiencies in this field by comparing the attitudes and competence perceptions of science teachers towards students in need of special education and their knowledge competence in this field. The research covers science teachers throughout Turkey, and 400 teachers from different provinces participated in the research. In this context, the scales selected for the research, achievement test and semi-unstructured form were uploaded to the system online and applied. In order to increase the number of participants and reach every province, science teacher group groups opened through social media and applications such as Telegram were used. Although it is comprehensive as it targets a country-wide audience, it is assumed that there will be a proportionality among the provinces in which teachers participate. The teachers participating in the research were selected completely randomly. Considering that people will read the questions at different speeds, it is accepted that people will answer the questions in the achievement test without researching, since no time limit can be set. In order to obtain data in the research, the Attitude Scale Towards Integrated Students, whose validity and reliability studies were conducted, was used as a scale to measure competence perceptions, as well as Teacher Competence in Inclusive Practices and an achievement test. The achievement test prepared by the researcher using the Special Education Regulation of the Ministry of National Education and the Integrated Education Practices booklet published by the General Directorate of Special Education and Guidance Services of the Ministry of National Education was used. For the achievement test, expert opinions were received and modified accordingly and the final version was given. In addition, an information section was included in the front part of the tests to determine the demographic characteristics of the teachers. In this section, teachers were asked for their gender, years of seniority, special education training, and whether they had experience working with someone in need of special education. A structured form was used for the qualitative part of the research and 3 open-ended questions were asked to determine the teachers' opinions. In the analysis of the data, parametric statistics were used, assuming that the distribution of the measurements in the universe was normal and the variances of the universes to which the samples belonged were equal. In this study, statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 27 software. First, the reliability level of the scales was evaluated using Cronbach's Alpha coefficients. The level and direction of the relationship between the scales were analyzed using Pearson Correlation method. In addition, Independent Groups t-test and ANOVA tests were applied to understand whether the scales differed according to demographic variables. In the qualitative part of the study, category analysis, one of the types of content analysis, was used to analyze the data obtained as a result of the application of the structured interview forms used in the study. The data were categorized and combined with a descriptive approach by preserving the form of the answers given. According to the data obtained in the quantitative part of the study, a low level positive correlation was found between teachers' attitudes towards inclusion practices, knowledge competencies and perceptions of competence. There is a moderate positive correlation between teachers' attitudes towards mainstreaming students and their perceptions of efficacy. While a significant difference was found when teachers' attitudes towards mainstreaming education were compared according to gender and the type of workplace, no significant difference was found when compared according to the status of receiving special education training, experience of working with mainstreaming students, and years of seniority. While a significant difference was found when teachers' perceptions of competence in inclusive education were compared according to gender, experience of working with inclusive students and the status of receiving special education training, no significant difference was found when compared according to years of experience and type of workplace. No significant difference was detected when teachers' knowledge competencies for inclusion education were compared according to gender, seniority, type of workplace, training in special education, and experience of working with inclusion students. According to the data obtained in the qualitative part of the study, teachers' thoughts that they contribute to students were expressed in the themes of family, cooperation between institutions, being process-oriented rather than achievement-oriented, being understanding and patient, encouraging and supporting students more, having a positive attitude, knowing the characteristics of students better, creating a plan for students, and teachers improving themselves through training. The most frequently expressed idea is the theme of encouraging and supporting students more. Teachers' ideas about the regulations that need to be changed in mainstreaming practices were expressed in the following themes: more accurate identification, overcrowded classrooms, physical structure of the school and classroom, using ready-made IEPs, parental support, rules for the behavior of normal students, problems related to teaching style, increasing support education, material support, teacher training, insufficiency of appropriate personnel, clearer regulations, not sending these students to vocational high schools. Among the regulations to be changed, the physical structure of the school and classroom is the most frequently expressed idea. Teachers' thoughts on what needs to be done to make special education more efficient; Preventing teachers from using ready-made plans, encouraging teachers more, increasing the number of support and appropriate personnel, directing these children to certain schools and volunteer teachers, increasing cooperation between stakeholders, arranging for sufficient time to be allocated to students, organizing classes and teaching activities, improving class size and physical structure, ensuring acceptance of students, providing special support to teachers for IEP preparation, supporting families and teachers, providing special education courses for teachers, providing special material support for these students. The idea of increasing the number of support and appropriate personnel was suggested most frequently for efficiency. When the results of the study were evaluated, it was seen that there are many studies with similar results in the literature.