Investigation of School Perception and Participation of Families Whose Children Receive Special Education and General Education

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Family participation is the cooperation of the family with the school and the active contribution of the family in the education process of the child. The importance of family involvement is not limited to academic success. Families' participation in activities organized at school, their participation in parent meetings, and their support for school social activities also contribute positively to the social and emotional development of the child. Such activities make the child feel more secure at school and create a positive perception of the school. Parent involvement also improves the child's ability to discipline and obey rules at school. Modeling the behaviors by school rules and disciplinary policies facilitates the child's adoption of these behaviors and adaptation to school rules.  In this study, the Family School Perception and Participation scale, which takes into account the parents of SEN and normal students of all ages and all levels, was applied to the parents. So, it is a quantitative study using a graded 5 Likert-type scale. A total of 366 parents, including 284 mothers and 82 fathers, participated in the study. According to the results, there is a significant difference between the scale scores of the families whose children receive special education and whose children continue to normal education. Furthermore, on the parent development and student development sub-dimensions, there was a significant difference between families whose children receive special education and whose children continue to normal education. However, on the parent involvement and school perception sub-dimensions, there was no significant difference between families' scale scores.

Keywords: school perception, school participation, families, special education needs, normal development