The evaluation of special education vocational school academic program according to the teachers views

This study aims to evaluate the curriculum applied in the Special Education Vocational Schools in Turkey from the perspectives of teachers. The research was carried out by the voluntary participation of 15 teachers working in special education vocational schools in Istanbul between the years 2017-2018. For data collection, the semi-structured interview technique which is a qualitative research method was used. For the analysis of the qualitative data obtained from the interviews, the content analysis technique comprising codes, themes and their organization stages was utilized. According to the research findings, the teachers stated that abstract concepts are not included in the objectives and in the expressions in the Academic Program of the Special Education Vocational School, and that there are no behavioral criteria and that the aim is insufficient as behavioral expressions. Considering the achievability of the objectives in the program, it can be indicated that goals are achievable if they are applied in line with students' performance. When the results about the content of the program are taken into account, it is necessary to enrich the content and to add more current and applicable objectives to the subjects in the Social Life Course. Moreover, taking the level of guidance offered by the program in terms of preparing teachers for daily and annual plan into consideration, it can be suggested that the teachers need different sources. There should also be lower and higher objectives in the program because of different academic levels of the students. In addition, the objectives related to E-KPSS (Disabled Public Personnel Selection Exam) should be incorporated into the program. As a result of this research study, based on the opinions of the teachers who are the practitioners of the program, it can be concluded that the program is insufficient in various aspects and that there are deficiencies related to its functionality.