Teacher's opinions regarding the instruction service provided to mentally disabled students in the resource room

The aim of this research was to acquire the opinions of teachers, regarding the quality of service provided in the resource room settings, who were giving instructions to mentally disabled students in primary schools which has resource rooms in the province of Bursa. This research was conducted with the voluntary participation of 10 teachers who were giving instruction in 3 primary schools that had resource rooms. The technique of semi-structured interview was used in this research and the data was analyzed descriptively. According to the findings of the research the resource rooms were placed appropriately and were in adequate size concerning their physical properties. However resource rooms were especially short on sound insulation. And required equipment and educational materials were not provided as to suit the age, performance and disability type of the students. Concerning the qualitative characteristic of instruction given in resource room, teachers stated that instruction in the resource room was conducted in work hours of the school; however lesson duration was insufficient. Most of normally developing students and most students who receive instruction in the resource room had positive attitudes towards the resource room. Teachers also emphasized that instructions provided to students in resource rooms resulted in positive change in the fields of cognition, mathematics, reading and writing, behavioral skills, development of self-confidence, language development and attitudes towards school. It was determined that most of the teachers informed the general teacher of the student, his/her parents and school administration about the instruction in the resource room yet this information was not in written form after a meeting it was only in words. The most important guideline of the teachers for a more efficient instruction about the physical properties of resource room was procurement of materials appropriate for student's need and levels. The most important guideline about the quality of instruction was necessity of conducting lessons in time with regularity. The most important guideline about the monitoring, evaluating and informing of the instruction in the resource room was giving information to the parents and continuing the education in cooperation with the parents. Also, it was determined that teachers who gave instruction in resource rooms has inadequate information about evaluating and monitoring the instruction; applying the suitable educational methods and techniques; and taking necessary precautions regarding the instruction. Key Words: Inclusion, special education support services, resource room, mild mentally disabled students