EFFECT OF FILMS AND ROLE-PLAY AS TEACHING TOOLS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION COURSES ON PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS' EMPATHIC TENDENCY AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS INCLUSION

This study aims to investigate whether a special education program using informative instruction together with role playing, films and videos has an effect on prospective teachers' empathie tendency and attitudes towards inclusion. The study employs a pretest-posttest experimental research design. Prospective teachers' empathy tendency and attitudes towards inclusion serve as the dependent variables, whereas the informative instruction, role-playing, films and videos serve as the independent variable. The research sample consists of 116 fourth-year students enrolled in the Teacher Training in Turkish and the Teacher Training in Sciences Departments of the Faculty of Education. Data were collected from the experimental groups in the beginning and following the completion of the course, using the Opinions Relative to Integration scale, developed by Antonak and Larrivee and adapted to Turkish by Kircaali-Iftar, and the Empathic Tendency Scale developed by Dokmen. Further information on prospective teachers was collected through forms developed by the researcher. The findings of the research showed that the course had a positive effect on prospective teachers' attitudes towards inclusion and empathy tendency.