Kaynaştırma/Bütünleştirme Uygulamalarında Öğretmen Yardımcıları

Paraprofesyoneller olarak da ifade edilen öğretmen yardımcıları, kaynaştırma/bütünleştirme uygulamalarının başarılı olmasında önemli bir sınıf içi destek olarak görülmektedir. Öğretmen yardımcısı, kaynaştırma/bütünleştirme uygulamalarında, bir uzmanın yönlendirmesi ve denetlemesiyle özel gereksinimli öğrenciye eğitim hizmeti sunulmasında hem öğretmen hem öğrenci hem de aile için süreci kolaylaştıran ve yardım eden kişi veya personel olarak tanımlanabilir. Öğretmen yardımcıları, kaynaştırma/bütünleştirme uygulamalarından özel eğitim okullarına; okul öncesi eğitimden yetişkinlikte bağımsız yaşam becerileri öğretimine kadar çok çeşitli kademelerde destek hizmet sağlayıcılar olarak yer almaktadır. Ayrıca eğitim ortamlarında çok çeşitli sorunlara çözüm bulmak amacıyla yer aldıkları görülmektedir. Etnik farklılıklar ve anadili farklı olan çocukların eğitim ortamlarına uyum sağlamasında, davranış sorunları veya öğrenme sorunları olan çocukların desteklenmesinde ve sınıf yönetimine destek olmada sıklıkla öğretmen yardımcılarından yararlanıldığı görülmektedir. Bununla birlikte öğretmen yardımcılarının rol ve sorumluluklarının somut bir şekilde tanımlanmamış olması, bu uygulamadan beklenen etkili ve verimli sonuçların alınmasında olumsuz bir etkiye sahip görülmektedir. Bu çalışmada alanyazına dayalı olarak öğretmen yardımcısının tanımlanması, bir öğretmen yardımcısının sahip olması gereken niteliklerinin açıklanması, öğretmen yardımcılarının ve öğretmen yardımcısı ile birlikte çalışan sınıf öğretmenlerinin rol ve sorumluluklarının açıklanması, öğretmen yardımcısı yetiştirme süreçleri ve istihdama yönelik bilgi verilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Öğretmen yardımcılarının yaşadığı sorunlar ve bu sorunların çözümüne ilişkin öneriler tartışılmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Bütünleştirme, Kaynaştırma, Öğretmen yardımcısı, Paraprofesyonel, Rol ve sorumluluklar

Paraprofessionals In Inclusive Education Settings

Teacher assistants, also referred to as paraprofessionals, are seen as an important in-class support for the success of inclusion settings. A paraprofessional can be defined as a person or staff who facilitates and assists the process for both the teacher, the student, and the family in inclusion settings, in providing education services to students with special needs under the guidance and supervision of an expert. Paraprofessionals, are involved as primary service providers at a wide range of levels, which extend from inclusion settings to special education schools or from early age education to independent life skills teaching in adulthood. In addition, it is seen that they take place in regular educational systems to find solutions to a wide variety of problems such as to adapt children with ethnic differences and different mother tongues to educational environments, to support children with behavioral or learning problems, and to support classroom management. However, the fact that the roles and responsibilities of paraprofessionals are not defined concretely seems to have a negative effect on the effective and productive results expected from this practice. This study aims to define the paraprofessional based on the literature, to explain the qualifications that a paraprofessional should have, to explain the roles and responsibilities of paraprofessionals and classroom teachers working with the paraprofessionals, to provide information about paraprofessional training processes and employment.

Keywords:

Inclusion, Mainstreaming, Teacher assistant, Paraprofessional, Roles and responsibilities,

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