Developi̇ng peer relati̇onshi̇p in an inclusive classroom at preschools: A case study, peer medi̇ated educati̇on

This study was conducted to develop normally developing preschool children's social acceptance and awareness towards their peers with special needs through playing activities based on peer-mediated education practices. The aim of the study was to determine the reflections of the activities based on peer-mediated education practices on peer relations of both normally developing children and children on the autism spectrum, and to find out the changes in normally developing children's acceptance levels. It was also aimed to present the current situation in inclusive education and to show the effects of interrelations among inclusive partners on an inclusive classroom. The research was conducted with using case study, one of the qualitative research methods. The participants of the study consisted of two administrative staffs, seven preschool teachers, 17 normally developing children and their parents, a child with special needs and his parent, and the teacher of the research class from an independent kindergarten affiliated to the Ministry of National Education, in Yüreğir district of Adana province in the 2017- 2018 academic year. Observation form, interview form, researcher's diary, teacher's diary, illustrated sociometry and structured play activity matrix were used in collecting research data. Interviews were conducted with all participants of the study, except the child with autism; and the normally developing children and the classroom teacher were observed in terms of the relations with the child with special needs. During the data collection procedure, a research diary was kept by the researcher and preschool classroom teacher. Peer-mediated structured playtime activities were applied four days in a week during four months during which social acceptance levels of the normally developing childrens to their peer with autism were described with the use of illustrated sociometry, and then the mentioned playing activities were applied. Based on views of the classroom teacher and the illustrated sociometry results, two normally developing girls and boys were included into the playing activities. The application process of peer-mediated structured play activities has been carried out in three stages; preparation / operation, application and evaluation, and totally 52 activities were applied during the normal course of an education day. During the applications, data related to the playing process have been recorded in the activity matrix developed by the researcher. Descriptive analysis and content analysis methods have been used in the analysis of the data obtained from all data collection tools. The results of the research show that administrative staff, preschool teachers, assistant staff and the parents of the normally developing children lacked of information about inclusive education. The administrative staff and preschool teachers were seen not to do proper planning, application and evaluation in an inclusion education, and not to approach the problems with a solution-oriented manner. Also, the assistant staff were seen to take responsibilities out of the job description and to help classroom teachers complete educational tasks. The parent of the child with autism was found to have problems with the school administration during the student enrollment process of the kindergarten. The majority of the parents of normally developing children approached the inclusion process positively, which reflected the peer relations in a positive manner, too. It was determined that following the peer-mediated structured play activities, the social interactions among the normally developing children and the child with special needs increased compared to pre-application, and positive contributions were observed in their awareness levels. Additionally, contact and social skills of the child with autism spectrum were seen to improve following the application of peer-mediated playing activities.