Teachers' Opinions on the Problems Encountered in Internship Practices in Special Education Vocational Schools

Abstract

Special education vocational bchools are educational institutions for children with special needs. Internship studies carried out in these schools include practices aimed at preparing students for the real work environment. The aim of this study is to reveal the difficulties encountered by students doing internship in special education vocational schools according to teachers' opinions and to make some suggestions on this issue. The research was handled with a descriptive design from case study methods. The study group of the research consists of teachers working in special education vocational schools. While collecting the research data, the opinions of teachers selected from different fields were utilized. The data were collected using a semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers. Content analysis is used to analyze the research data. The findings obtained from the research can be categorized under four headings. These are internal problems, problems related to the school, problems related to the practicum teachers and problems related to the practicum institution. The most important problems related to students are stated as adaptation and absenteeism. The most important problem arising from the school is the lack of workplaces where students will practice. Problems arising from the practicum teacher were stated as the application process and the follow-up of the students. The problems arising from the institution are concentrated in the options of excessive workload and the staff's approach to students. In order to eliminate these problems, it was suggested that students should be informed about internship, each student should be assigned to a workplace related to his/her field, students should not be made to do unnecessary work, and competent master trainers should be assigned. Some suggestions have been made to solve these problems.