Attitude of Preschool Teachers towards Special Educational Needs Students

Abstract

Preschool education is basic education for all children, including special educational needs students (SED). Therefore, the attitude of preschool teachers is essential to assist SED in receiving quality education as early as 5-6 years old. The purpose of this study was to identify the level of preschool teachers' attitudes towards SED. A quantitative study was conducted via survey research design. The sample of this study consisted of 80 preschool teachers in Kota Tinggi district who were selected through a simple random sampling technique. This study also used a questionnaire instrument adapted from the Diversity Acceptance Checklist, and then distributed to respondents via Google Form. Data analysis was conducted utilizing the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) software, and translated into frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The results of this study indicated that the level of preschool teachers’ attitude towards SED was moderately high. The outcome of this study can provide information about the importance of preschool teachers' attitude towards SED. In conclusion, preschool teachers should strive to further improve their attitude level to promote the development of SED at the preschool level.