Investigation of Special Education and Branch Teachers' Attitudes Towards Physical Education and Sports Activities of Individuals with Special Needs

Abstract

The aim of this research is to examine the attitudes of special education and branch teachers towards physical education and sports activities of individuals who need special education. The sample of study consists of a total of 40 volunteer teachers, 28 female and 12 male, who work as special education and branch teachers at Rize Zehra Usta Special Education Practice School in the spring term of the 2020-2021 academic year. "Personal Information Form", which was developed by the researcher by taking expert opinion, and "Attitude towards Sports Activities of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities Scale (ATSAIIDS)" developed by İlhan, Esentürk, and Yarımkaya (2016) were used as data collection tools in the research. Survey model, one of the quantitative research designs, was used in the research. SPSS 21.00 statistics program was used in the analysis of the research data. In the findings obtained, a significant relationship was found in terms of the variable of department (branch) from which the participants graduated. It was determined that the attitude levels of the employees who graduated from other departments were higher than those who graduated from the special education department. However, no significant relationship was found in terms of gender, age, education level, having a disabled person in their family, and receiving sports training for the disabled. Keywords: Attitude, intellectual disability, special education, physical education and sports