Educational and Administrative Problems Encountered at Schools by Turkish Students in Denmark

Abstract

This study aimed to define the educational and administrative problems encountered by the primary school-aged children of Turkish families living in Odense, Denmark. Study data were obtained via the interviews conducted with school principles. Semi-structured interview forms were used in these interviews. Findings obtained at the end of the interviews were analyzed via content analysis method. Some of the problems defined during the interviews with the school principles can be listed as follows: Turkish parents' disinterest towards school; negative effects of language problem on administrator-parent relations; and lack of mother tongue education. It is a prerequisite for healthy and balanced integration of future generations to develop new policies towards solution of multi-dimensional problems experienced by Turkish parents and children, who try to complete the process of integration with the social life under the influence of the dominant culture of the Danish society, particularly in the primary education level where children intensely meet the dominant culture for the first time.