The Effectiveness of In-Service Training for School Counselors on the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities.

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to ascertain the effectiveness of in-service training for school counselors on the inclusion of students with disabilities. In this research, pre-experimental method in compliance with pretest- posttest model is employed in order to ascertain the effectiveness of in-service training for school counselors on the inclusion of students with disabilities provided by the Ministry of Education. The research group consists of all school counselors (14 teachers in total) who participated in the in-service training organized by the Ministry of Education Isparta Guidance and Research Centre in 2007 to 2008 school year. In the research, the “opinions relative to mainstreaming” scale developed by Antonak and Larviee (1995) and translated into Turkish by Kircaali-A°ftar (1996) was used as the data collection instrument. In- service training on the inclusion of students with disabilities was provided to school counselors by 4 persons in charge in Isparta Guidance and Research Centre for 5 days. Dependant samples t test was used in order to ascertain the effectiveness of the in-service training on the inclusion of students with disabilities provided to school counselors. It was found out that the in-service training on the inclusion of students with disabilities provided to school counselors is not effective in altering the views of teachers. In order to change the views of school counselors on the inclusion of students with disabilities, it is thought that there is a need for long term in-service education in which; different teaching methods and techniques are used, teachers voluntarily take part in it and they can put theoretical information into practice. Key words: Inclusion, in-service training, school counselor, teacher training.