A study on inclusive education in Turkey

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine inclusive education research and to guide applications and research according to the results obtained. Within the framework of this aim, the studies carried out in the field of inclusive education in Turkey were systematically examined. Articles published in national and international refereed journals in English or Turkish between 2009-2019 were included in the research The research is qualitative research in which the studies are examined according to the publication year, publication language, subject, research design, the field of the researchers and the scope of the articles. The data of the study were collected through document review. In this study, it has been concluded that the studies about inclusive education have started to increase in recent years, generally, qualitative research methods are used and more specifically, researchers in special education field have made inclusive education studies. When the articles were examined in terms of scope, it was seen that the majority of the studies were on attitude and descriptive studies. At this point, it can be said that the priority of the studies related to inclusive education in Turkey is not to produce theoretical knowledge or to create the infrastructure of new studies by examining the studies done. In the studies carried out, studies that reveal the opinions, attitudes and perceptions of the participants regarding inclusive education were more prominent. In order to contribute to both national and international literature, it would be useful to conduct further research on theoretical and literature research and to plan experimental research to reveal the effectiveness of inclusive education-related practices. Similar studies will be conducted in different countries and the comparison of the findings will contribute to the literature in terms of revealing the international trend.