Ibrahim H. Diken

A Randomized Control Study of Responsive Teaching With Young Turkish Children and Their Mothers

A randomized control study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of responsive teaching (RT) with a sample of 19 Turkish preschool-age children with disabilities and their mothers over a 6-months period. RT is an early intervention curriculum that attempts to promote children’s development by encouraging parents to engage in highly responsive interactions with them. Participants were randomly assigned to treatment conditions: The control group consisted of standard preschool classroom services and the RT group received biweekly RT parent–child sessions in addition to standard services. Compared with the control group, RT mothers made significantly greater increases in Responsiveness and Affect, whereas their children made greater changes in their engagement or pivotal behavior. There were also significant group differences in children’s developmental outcomes. Children in the RT group improved their developmental quotient scores by an average of 42% compared with 7% for children in the control group.

An Overview of Parental Perceptions in Cross-Cultural Groups on Disability.

(2006). Review of Research: An Overview of Parental Perceptions in Cross-Cultural Groups on Disability. Childhood Education: Vol. 82, No. 4, pp. 236-240.

Early Childhood Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education in Turkey Within the Scope of the Developmental System Approach

The purpose of this article was to provide an overview of early childhood intervention and early childhood special education (ECI/ECSE) services and practices in Turkey by using the Developmental System Approach (M. J. Guralnick, 2001). After pointing out the history of early childhood and ECI/ECSE services and current legislations with regard to ECI/ECSE in Turkey, the article focuses on ECI/ECSE practices in Turkey. Although ECI/ECSE legislative acts have been in place since 1980s, there are critical issues regarding the provision of systematic ECI/ECSE both to young children with developmental delays or at risk for developmental delays and to their families. These issues include lack of a model system approach, lack of assessment tools and curricula, and lack of qualified personnel. Future recommendations for ECI/ECSE are provided.

Turkish mothers’ self‐efficacy beliefs and styles of interactions with their children with language delays

Turkish mothers’ self‐efficacy beliefs and their interactional behaviors with their children with language delays are described and explored. Participants included 19 mother–child dyads. Mothers’ interaction with their children with language delays was videotaped for 30 minutes in a free‐play context. Regarding mothers’ interactional behaviors, results indicate that most mothers were sensitive to the behaviors of their children, responsive and effective during interactions even though they occasionally expressed warmth through brief touches and vocal tone and showed little affective quality in body language, voice quality and facial expression. The very low use of verbal praise and very limited ways of interacting with the toys and materials provided were observed. It was also observed that encouragement of sensorimotor and cognitive development of their children was an essential issue for most mothers. Moreover, most were found directive during interactions. Results also indicated mothers had significantly high level of self‐efficacy beliefs and there were strong relationships between mothers’ self‐efficacy scores and their some interactional behaviors (achievement‐oriented behaviors and the use of verbal praise). The results are discussed extensively.

The Effectiveness of the Responsive Teaching Parent-Mediated Developmental Intervention Programme in Turkey: A Pilot Study.

The case study was conducted to examine the feasibility of an early intervention curriculum called Responsive Teaching with two five-year-old children from Turkey who had significant developmental delays. This study determined whether Turkish mothers might be successful in learning to become more responsive to their children, and whether this would result in significant improvements in their children’s development. Both dyads received 28 individual parent–child intervention sessions which were conducted over a four-month period of time. Pre-, mid-, and post-assessments indicated improvements in the mothers’ responsiveness to their children and the children’s levels of engagement with their parents. There were also improvements in the children’s language and personal social development. Mothers reported that Responsive Teaching helped them learn to interact more effectively with their children and that this resulted in longer and more enjoyable interactions with them. Results from this investigation are discussed in terms of their implications for providing developmental services to preschool-aged children with disabilities in Turkey.

First Step to Success - a school/home intervention program for preventing problem behaviors in young children: examining the effectiveness and social validity in Turkey

This study examined the effectiveness of the First Step to Success (FSS) early intervention program for preventing antisocial behavior in Turkey. Participants included 24 students, their teachers and parents from four K–8 elementary schools. The experimental group included 12 targeted students (four kindergarten, four first-grade and four second-grade students) who received the intervention. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were carried out by using a pre-posttest experimental design. Results indicated that there were significant decreases in problem behaviors and significant increases in social skills and academic competence of targeted students. In addition, teachers and parents reported significant positive changes in problem behaviors and social skills of their children. Most teachers and parents were highly satisfied with the program. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed.

Early Childhood Inclusion in Turkey.

Inclusion of young children with disabilities into regular preschool classrooms is a common practice that has been implemented for several decades in industrialized nations around the world, and many developing countries including Turkey have been developing and implementing laws, regulation, and services to support inclusion and teaching in natural environments. The current definition of inclusion provided in special education laws developed in Turkey aligns with the definition of inclusion provided in the contemporary literature. However, implementation of inclusive practices in early years is still in its early stages and baby steps are taken to develop more comprehensive system of special education and inclusive practices. The purpose of this article is 4-fold: (a) to describe Turkish special education laws and regulations that support inclusive education and teaching in natural environment; (b) to summarize current inclusive practices in early childhood in Turkey; (c) to summarize and synthesize the available research on early childhood inclusion in Turkey; and (d) to discuss challenges and suggestions for future directions to enhance early childhood inclusion in Turkey.