Turkish education policies and practices: inclusive or exclusionary?

Abstract

ABSTRACT This research aims to determine the opinions of teachers and educational administrators about how inclusive the Turkish education system is and attempts to provide a profound picture of inclusive education policies and practices in Turkey. In this qualitative-phenomenological study, sampling technique was used. Thirteen general education teachers and seven administrators, who participated in inclusive education in-service teacher training activities, constituted the working group of the study. The data were collected with a semi-structured interview form. The obtained data were analysed through the content analysis method. The findings revealed that inclusive education is still considered in terms of increasing the rates of schooling, and the policies and practices regarding it have not gone beyond mere integration. Although there have been remarkable steps regarding the inclusion of students, who are disadvantaged in terms of their disability, ethnicity and refugee, the Turkish education system is still far from being inclusive and fair. Hence, it was suggested that discussions on inclusion in the education system should go beyond the quantifiable indicators and be organized to include all disadvantageous groups of students, not just the visible ones.