Investigating problembehaviors and social skills of inclusive preschool and kindergarten students with and without special needs and opinions of preschooland kindergarten teachers on inclusion

The purpose of this study is twofold. The first purpose is to investigate problem behaviors and social skills of inclusive preschool and kindergarten students with and without special needs. The second purpose is to also explore opinions of inclusive preschool and kindergarten teachers on inclusion.The study is a descriptive and relational study including 57 inclusive preschool and kindergarten teachers, 64 students with special needs and 320 students without special needs. To investigate problem behaviors and social skills of inclusive preschool and kindergarten students with and without special needs, ?Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS)? developed originally by Merrell (1994) and adapted into Turkish by Poyraz-Tüy (1999) was used. Opinions of preschool and kindergarten teachers on inclusion were explored by using ?Opinions Related to Mainstreaming Scale? developed originally by Antonak and Larrivee (1995) and adapted into Turkish by Kırcaali-İftar (1997).Results indicated that there were significant differences on problem behavior and social skill scores of inclusive preschool and kindergarten students with and without special needs. Inclusive preschool and kindergarten students with special needs showed higher problem behaviors and less social skills than preschool and kindergarten students without special needs. Inclusive preschool and kindergarten teachers showed negative opinions on inclusion. Externalizing problem behaviors of inclusive preschool and kindergarten students with special needs was found as mediator of teachers? opinions on inclusion.