Zarife Seçer

The objective of this study is to reveal whether the peer relationships of preschool children who are determined to be obese, based on their body mass index (BMI), differentiate or not. The study was conducted within the frame of a relational survey model. A total of 114 five- to six-year-old children (57 normal-weight children and 57 obese children), who attend preschool educational institutions, participated in the study. The Ladd-Profilet Child Behaviour Scale and Peer Victimisation Scale were used to obtain data of the study. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to test the data. As a result of the study, there were significant differences on prosocial behaviour and hyperactivity levels of children according to their gender and at aggressiveness, prosocial behaviour and hyperactivity levels according to the state of being obese. Besides, significant differences were observed on asocial behaviours, hyperactivity and peer victimisation levels of children according to the state of being obese and gender interaction.

Bu araştırma öğrenme güçlüklü impulsif çocuklara verilen düşünme eğitimi programının impulsif bilişsel stil üzerinde etkili olup olmadığını belirlemek amacıyla yürütülmüştür. Öntest-sonttest kontrol gruplu deneysel desenin kullanıldığı araştırmanın çalışma evrenini, Konya-Selçuklu İlçe Milli Eğitim Müdürlüğü’ne bağlı Ertuğrul Gazi İlköğretim Okulu 3.sınıfına devam eden 180 çocuk oluşturmuştur. Araştırmanın çalışma grubu ise bu çocuklar arasından seçilen 10’u deney ve 10’u kontrol grubu olmak üzere toplam 20 çocuktan oluşmuştur. Araştırmada kullanılan düşünme eğitimi programı araştırmacılar tarafından geliştirilmiştir. Araştırmada veri toplama aracı olarak ‘Benzer Şekilleri Eşleştirme Testi-20 (BŞET-20)’ kullanılmıştır. Araştırma verileri “Mann-Withney- U testi” ve “Wilcoxon İşaretli Sıralar Testi” kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda, düşünme eğitimi alan deney grubu çocukların hata sayılarının azaldığı düşünme sürelerinin ise uzadığı belirlenmiştir.

The study investigated whether social skills and problem behaviours of preschool children differ according to their cognitive styles. The sample group included 366 six-year-old children who attend preschools in Konya. Form A of the Kansas Reflection-Impulsivity Scale for Preschoolers (KRISP), developed by Wright (1971), was used to determine whether the participants had reflective or impulsive cognitive styles, while Preschool and Kindergarten Behaviour Scales (PKBS), developed by Merrell (2003), were used to evaluate social skills and problem behaviour dimensions. Results found that impulsive children were less efficient than reflective children in regards to their social cooperation and social interaction skills, and they exhibited more problem behaviours like self-centred/explosive behaviours, lack of attention/hyperactivity, antisocialism/aggression and social withdrawal.

Any implementation of an inclusive policy is largely dependent on educators’ attitudes. In Turkey, many teachers who educate preschool children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), and who have not received in‐service teacher training (INSET) are observed to have negative attitudes towards their SEN students. The aim of this article is to examine differences between the attitudes of preschool teachers before and after an INSET course. Sixty‐six preschool teachers were selected for this study which had a single group pre–post‐test design. The teachers’ opinions and attitudes relating to mainstreaming SEN students in regular educational environments were assessed using the ‘Opinions Relative to Mainstreaming’ scale. The data indicate that these teachers were affected by the INSET programme in such a way that their attitudes towards the inclusion of SEN students became more positive.