Inclusive Preschool Teachers: Their Attitudes and Knowledge about Inclusion

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the knowledge and attitudes of preschool teachers regarding inclusive practices and to determine the relationship between knowledge and attitudes of the teacher about inclusion. Two instruments were used for data collection: The Inclusion Knowledge Test developed by the researchers and the Turkish form of Opinions Relative to Integration of Students with Disabilities. 30 preschool teachers who have children with disabilities in their classrooms participated in the study. The results of analysis provided the specific information about what the teachers know and do not know about inclusive practices. In addition, it was found that teacher attitudes towards inclusion were neither positive nor negative and there is no significant relationship between the level of knowledge and attitudes of the teachers. All findings were discussed in terms of preschool teacher training programs and several suggestions were made to train teachers who are able to work with young children with disabilities in regular classrooms.