AN AWARENESS STUDY TOWARDS DISABLED INDIVIDUALS: COMMUNITY SERVICE PRACTICES COURSE AS A SAMPLE LESSON

Abstract

This research aims to raise awareness among the teacher candidates towards disabled individuals within the context of the Community Service Practices (CSP) course. It is a descriptive research in which qualitative data collection and evaluation techniques are used with reference to the action research method, one of the qualitative research designs. The research was conducted at the end of a four-month study in the fall semester of 2016-2017 with 15 participants among 3rd grade (sophomore) students who took the CSP course. Within the scope of CSP course, it was questioned whether there was an increase in the awareness level of the participants via in-depth interviews. From the six basic questions in the semi-structured interview form, the data obtained from the participants was transcribed and subjected to content analysis. Then, the data obtained were categorized according to the six questions and evaluated. In the research, it was detected that the prospective teachers did not have knowledge about the disabled individuals before receiving the CSP course, that the level of awareness for disabled people was low and they were insensitive to the disability issues. However, as a result of the awareness study conducted for the disabled within the scope of the CSP course, the majority of the teacher candidates gained the knowledge and awareness, and their sensitivity to disability has been increased. This is a fairly genuine research in terms of its sociological perspective approach, data being collected from the first hand, and reaching striking findings / results. It has also been substantial because it drew attention of the teacher candidates gain awareness of disabled people. Finally, the research suggests to do more studies and training to increase prospective teachers’ awareness of disabled individuals