Scale of professional ethics for individuals working in the field of special education: validity and reliability study

Abstract

Professional ethics includes the principles set forth by professional associations and accepted as correct by discussions over time, and which has become the sine qua non of a profession today. Professional ethics are established to increase the quality of professional practices and ensure correct and honest conduct. Not having professional ethical principles for the special education field negatively affects the quality of services. The purpose of this study was to develop a scale of principles in professional ethics for specialists and educators working in special education and to conduct its validity and reliability studies. For construct validity studies following Kaiser-Meyer Olkin test, factor analysis was performed. The analysis showed that ethical principles were gathered in two dimensions as ‘importance and compliance of colleagues’ and had a two-way Likert type. The findings showed that the scale is a valid and reliable tool that can be used in special education.

Keywords: Special education, individuals working in special education, professional ethics, ethical principles