A qualitative study on the investigation of peer bullying towards individuals with special needs according to teachers' opinions

Abstract

Peer bullying encountered at school can be defined as behaviors that can affect children psychologically, socially and physically. When the literature is examined, it is evident that peer bullying also affects individuals with special needs. According to the Special Education Services Regulation (2018), individuals with special needs are defined as "individuals who differ significantly from their peers in terms of their individual and developmental characteristics and educational competencies." Due to their vulnerability and special needs, it is thought that individuals with special needs will encounter peer bullying more frequently and their social and/or academic lives may be more negatively affected in the future. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine peer bullying towards individuals with special needs according to teachers' opinions. This research, which was designed as a phenomenological study of qualitative research methods, was conducted with six elementary school teachers who have students with special needs (speech and language disorder, specific learning disability, intellectual disability). In order to collect data with semi-structured interviews, seven openended questions created by the researchers were included in the interview form. The audiorecorded interviews were transcribed by the researcher. Content analysis method was used to analyze the data and five different themes emerged as a result of the research. The findings showed that teachers defined bullying similarly and they categorized bullying as verbal, physical and psychological bullying. It has been stated that there are many factors among the causes of peer bullying and factors such as age, family, environment, and negative model are at the forefront. Other findings included that teachers' methods of coping with peer bullying are varied. It is evident that teachers were in cooperation with different professionals and institutions to prevent peer bullying, particularly for individuals with special needs. In addition, teachers implemented peer mediation and received help from psychological counseling and guidance units and school administration. In particular, the psychological counseling and guidance unit is the most frequently consulted unit that has been received help. Conducting studies with families and teachers with students with different special needs to compare the effects of peer bullying and conducting studies with larger samples to reach more generalizable results are presented as suggestions for future research.