Religious-Moral Education And Rcmk Courses In Autistics According To Special Education And Rcmk Teachers

Öz

The prevalence of autism, which is defined as developmental disorder that manifests itself with symptoms like not being able to establish social communication, insufficiency in social behaviors, difficulty in perceiving emotions, obsessive behaviors and echolalia, is increasing with each passing day. This situation has broadened the range of the subjects of studies conducted on the education of individuals with autism. Diagnosing autism at early ages may be considered as an element facilitating the participation of individuals with autism to life starting from the pre-school period. It is known that individuals with autism are inclined to learn many subjects. However, when the literature is reviewed for religious and moral education in individuals with autism, no common judgment is found.

When studies conducted on religious education in individuals with autism are examined, two viewpoints that are opposite to each other are found. In studies arguing that religious education is not possible in individuals with autism, the arguments are that religion is an abstract phenomenon and individuals with autism cannot perceive abstract, figurative and indirect narrations. In addition, the fact that the participation is a religious requirement for worshipping and rituals, which require socialization in many religions, whereas individuals with autism exhibited problematic behaviors in socialization environments and cannot establish social interaction and communication with others was used to ground this argument. However, there are also several studies in the literature arguing the opposite and presenting these in experimental terms. In these studies, it was shown that individuals with autism could participate in the worships with congregations when necessary environment organizations are made. 

The subject of individuals with autism exhibiting morality perception, moral behavior, and grounding moral behaviors in individuals with autism are also among the issues discussed in the literature. The common point reported in previous studies is that moral judgment and moral development are detected in individuals with autism; however, they are far behind their peers who have normal development in terms of moral reasoning and judgment. It was also among the conclusions that individuals with autism are able to acquire normative rules; however, the rates of grounding these on concrete justifications is higher, and that they develop a heteronomous morality. It is thought that these results must not be considered as an obstacle for teaching morality and values in individuals with autism.

In our country, the formal tool of religious and moral education in individuals with autism may be considered as the RCMK (Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge) courses. The fact that RCMK courses were included in the curricula as a compulsory field as of 2010 has raised the requirement to conduct scientific studies on religious and moral education in individuals with autism. This also prepared the ground for being discussed by various non-governmental organizations and teachers that are the stakeholders of this issue. For this reason, in the present study, the viewpoints of teachers on the needs of individuals with autism in religious and moral education, on the possibility of religious and moral education in individuals with autism, and on teaching RCMK, which is the reflection of this education in schools, were investigated. A total of 9 special education schools that were located in the central counties of Konya (Karatay, Meram, Selcuklu), and 6 secondary schools that had classes for individuals with autism constituted the universe of the study. A total of 30 teachers who worked at these schools except for a school that did not have any students with autism, and 6 RCMK teachers working in these schools were selected as the sampling of the study. The data that were obtained by Semi-Structured Interview Method were subjected to Content Analysis to determine the themes; and findings were obtained and interpreted by presenting some examples of the viewpoints of the teachers, who represented the themes in the sampling in the study.

As a result of the analysis of the interviews, it was determined that the teachers had different viewpoints on the possibility of religious education and the needs related to it for individuals with autism. It was also determined that contrary to the teachers who did not consider religious education necessary due to reasons like the lack of the ability needed for abstract thinking, lack of socialization, and the priority of the subject that need to be taught for individuals with autism, there were also some teachers who thought that it is possible to teach some social rules and behaviors, hygiene, self-care and similar skills that may be included in the religion, to individuals with autism by means of religious education will contribute to their social development in a positive way.

On the subject of education of morality, it was determined that except for 3 teachers, other participants agreed that it is possible and necessary to teach moral values like hygiene, justice and cooperation. The teachers who participated in the present study also interpreted the RCMK courses, which are included in the curriculum, in terms of the problems and contributions. As a result of this, the relevant problems were identified as the lack of teaching materials in the RCMK courses, the inability of the curriculum to respond to the needs of the students, and the lack of special education by the RCMK teachers. There are teachers who argued that the course was not legal and must be abolished; and there were some others who thought that the course contributed to individuals with autism. Some of the teachers stated that the subjects that were taught in the courses contributed to the social acceptance of the students and made them apply some moral values and judgments in their lives.

As a result of the study, when the viewpoints of the teachers, who participated in the present study were examined, it was determined that although there were teachers who thought that religious and moral education was not possible for individuals with autism, and the RCMK courses must be abolished; teachers did not completely reject the social dimension of the education of moral and values and religious education. Based on this, it may be concluded that it is not possible to carry out religious and moral education for individuals with autism with a single program in both school and informal fields; and it may be suggested to create proper programs by considering the autism levels and prior requirements of individuals with autism. In addition, it is also thought that the development of methods, techniques and materials to provide religious education for individuals with autism may contribute to the current problems.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Religious Education,Moral Education,autism,RCMK courses

Özel Eğitim ve DKAB Öğretmenlerine Göre Otizmlilerde Din-Ahlak Eğitimi ve DKAB Dersleri

Öz

Otizm; sosyal iletişimde yetersizlikler, duygusal tepkilerin gösterilememesi, tekrarlanan takıntılı davranışlar gibi belirtilerle kendini gösteren bir gelişim bozukluğudur. Otizm belirtileri yaşamın ilk yıllarında kendini göstermektedir. Bu durum otizm teşhisi konulan çocukların eğitimine erken yaşlarda başlanmasına imkân tanıması bakımından avantaj olarak değerlendirilebilir. Tanısı koyulmuş otizmli bireylerin eğitimi gerek özel eğitim okullarında gerekse kaynaştırma yoluyla devam ettirilmektedir. Otizmlilerin, din ve ahlak konusundaki eğitimi ise tartışma konusu olmuştur. Otizmlilerin dini kavram ve olguları anlamlandıramayacağına yönelik çalışmalara karşın olumlu sonuçlara ulaşılmış araştırmalar da mevcuttur. Ahlak ve değerler eğitimi konusunda da benzer zıtlıkları içeren araştırmalara rastlanmaktadır. Ülkemizde otizmlilerde din ve ahlak eğitimine dair bilimsel araştırmalar mevcut olmamakla birlikte 2010 yılında, DKAB derslerinin zorunlu olarak otizmli bireylerin eğitim programlarında yer alması konuyu gündeme taşımıştır. Buradan yola çıkılarak bu araştırmada, otizmlilerde din ve ahlak eğitiminin imkanına dair tartışmalara değinilerek, birbirine zıt görüşler içeren konu, otizmlilerin eğitiminde aileden sonra en etkili bireyler olan öğretmenlerin görüşlerine açılmıştır. Yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme tekniğiyle yapılan araştırmanın çalışma grubunu Konya ili merkez ilçelerinde (Karatay, Meram, Selçuklu) bulunan özel eğitim okullarında ve bünyesinde otizm sınıfı bulunan ortaokullarda görev yapmakta olan 30 özel eğitim ve bu okullarda derslere giren 6 DKAB öğretmeni oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma sonucunda, çalışmaya katılan öğretmenlerin otizmlilerde din ve ahlak eğitiminin imkanına yönelik farklı görüşlerde oldukları ancak din ve ahlak teması altına giren birtakım konularda otizmlilerin bir eğitime ihtiyacı olduğu noktasında fikir birliğine sahip oldukları görülmüştür. Yapılan çalışmanın literatürdeki tartışmalara, öğretmenlerin görüş ve tecrübelerinin katılması yönüyle katkı sağlayacağı düşünülmektedir. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Din Eğitimi,Ahlak Eğitimi,Otizm,DKAB Dersleri

Kaynakça

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