Identifying the reward and punishment practises that mainstream and special education teachers apply to the mentaly disabled students in their classrooms

The aim of the present study was to determine the reward and punishment practices towards mentally disabled students used by the teachers of integrating classrooms and special classrooms. The sample of the study was composed of 10 teachers of integrating classrooms and 10 teachers of special classrooms who were on duty at state schools in a city in the West Black Sea region. The data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews one of qualitative data collection methods. An interview form was used in the study. According to the results of the present study; it has been determined that 50 percent of the teachers of disabled students did not attend any program related to special education, written regulations and practices are conflicting to each other when disabled students are placed in special classrooms and integrating classrooms and both teacher groups use verbal reinforcements, realia reinforcements, social reinforcements, symbol reinforcements and food rewards in order to increase positive behaviors. It has been determined that nearly all of the teachers in both teacher groups don?t use the rewards at predetermined time and frequency and don?t have adequate knowledge and skill about effective reward usage and don?t use the rewards in a planned way. Both the teachers of integrating classrooms and those of special classrooms try similar ways in determination of punishment techniques, but generally, the teachers don?t show necessary efforts for removing the problematic behaviors and they don?t predetermine and apply the punishment techniques in a planned way.