SUMMARY
The current study focused on exploring attitudes towards sportive activities of mentally disabled individuals shown by the 1st and 4th year candidate teachers who studied at teaching departments of Education Faculty and Sports Sciences Faculty of Mugla Sitki Koçman University during 2015-2016 academic year. In the study; a general survey model was used. “Personal Information Form” designed by the researchers and “Attitude Scale of Individuals Having Mental Disabilities towards Sports Activities (ASIHMDSA)” designed by Ilhan, Esentürk and Yarimkaya (2016) were administered to the participants. Attitudinal levels of the participants were compared in relation to sex, academic grade, presence of a disabled member in the family, witnessing sportive activities of the disabled and receiving sports education for the disabled during their education. Sample of the study was consisted of a total of 560 candidate teachers who volunteered to join the study (336 female candidate teachers and 224 male candidate teachers). Mann-Whitney U was used for data analyses. As far as the study-findings were concerned, there were no statistically significant differences in participants’ level of attitudes towards sportive activities of mentally disabled individuals in terms of sex, witnessing sportive activities of the disabled, presence of a disabled member in the family and academic grades (P>0.05). However, in the comparisons statistically significant differences were found in terms of receiving sports education for the disabled during their education and faculty types (P<0.05). As a result; it may be argued that it will have a positive impact for candidate teachers to receive sports courses for the disabled during their higher education in order to raise attitudinal level towards sportive activities of mentally disabled individuals.Extended English abstract is in the end of PDF (TURKISH) file.ÖzetBu arastirma, 2015-2016 egitim ögretim yili Mugla Sitki Koçman Üniversitesi Egitim ve Spor Bilimleri Fakültelerinin ögretmen yetistirme bölümlerine devam eden 1 ve 4. Sinif, ögretmen adaylarinin, zihinsel engelli bireylerin sportif etkinliklerine yönelik tutumlarini belirleme amacina odaklanmistir. Çalismada genel tarama modeli kullanilmistir. Katilimcilara, arastirmacilar tarafindan gelistirilen “Kisisel Bilgi Formu” ve Ilhan, Esentürk ve Yarimkaya (2016) tarafindan gelistirilen “Zihinsel Engelli Bireylerin Sportif Etkinliklerine Yönelik Tutum Ölçegi (ZEBSEYTÖ)” kullanilmistir. Katilimcilarin tutum düzeyleri, cinsiyet, sinif, ailede engelli bir bireyin bulunup bulunmamasi, engellilerin spor egitimine tanik olma durumlari ve egitimleri içerisinde engellilere yönelik spor egitimi alma durumlari açilarindan mukayese edilmistir. Çalismaya gönüllü olarak katilmayi kabul eden 336’si kadin, 224’ü erkek olmak üzere genel toplamda 560 ögretmen adayi olusturmustur. Verilerin degerlendirilmesinde Mann-Whitney U testi kullanilmistir. Elde edilen bulgularda katilimcilarin, cinsiyet, engellilerin spor egitimine tanik olma, ailede engelli bireye sahip olma ve sinif degiskenleri açisindan, zihinsel engelli bireylerin sportif etkinliklerine yönelik tutum düzeyleri arasinda istatistiksel olarak anlamli bir farklilik tespit edilmemistir (P>0,05). Buna karsilik, egitimleri içerisinde, engellilere yönelik spor egitimi alma degiskeni ve ögrenim gördükleri fakülteler açisindan yapilan karsilastirmada, istatistiksel olarak anlamli düzeyde farklilik tespit edilmistir (P<0,05). Sonuç olarak, zihinsel engellilerin spor etkinliklerine yönelik tutum düzeyinin arttirilabilmesi için, ögretmen adaylarinin egitimleri içerisinde Engellilerde Spor dersi almalarinin, pozitif yönde bir etkiye sahip olabilecegi söylenebilir.