The Trends of Kindergarten Teachers Towards the Integration of Children with Disabilities in the Kindergarten Stage and the Obstacles to Achieving this from their Point of View in Mafraq Governorate

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the trends of kindergarten teachers towards integrating people with disabilities at the kindergarten stage and the obstacles to achieving this from their point of view in Mafraq governorate and their relationship to some variables, represented by (type of kindergarten, academic qualification, experience). To achieve the goals of the study, the descriptive curriculum was used. The study community consists of all kindergarten teachers in Mafraq governorate, numbering (230) teachers according to the statistics of the Ministry of education for the academic year 2022/2023,  while the study sample consisted of (155) teachers. The researcher designed a tool consisting of two parts: The first is to measure the trends of kindergarten teachers towards integrating people with disabilities with children without disabilities in Mafraq governorate, where it consisted of (28) items distributed over three areas: social, academic, emotional), and the second is to measure obstacles to integration, where it consisted of (20) items. The study showed the multiplicity of obstacles to integration from the teachers' point of view. It also showed that there are no statistically significant differences at (α =0،05) in the trends of kindergarten teachers towards comprehensive integration), with the variety of the type of kindergarten, academic qualifications, and years of experience. The results also explained that the trends of the study sample were positive. In light of the results, the researcher recommends the application of comprehensive integration at the kindergarten stage, and the need to hold training courses to qualify kindergarten teachers, and to raise awareness of the process of applying comprehensive integration from the beginning of early childhood, through media and educational programs, and adapting the educational environment before the application of the comprehensive integration process.