Charlotte Woods

Achieving Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in Turkey: Current Challenges and Future Prospects.

Developing inclusion in schools has been an objective for many countries in recent decades, giving rise to a variety of definitions, policy -making activities and school practices. This paper focuses on the attempts made towards inclusion of students with disabilities in Turkey. We start by introducing inclusive education and its parameters, and continue with recent trends in education in Turkey. Next, we discuss current progress in including students with disabilities within mainstream schools, and continue with the legislative attempts made to improve this position. After that, we discuss recent developments and challenges in the education and inclusion of students with disabilities, and conclude by noting several recommendations for realising their inclusion in Turkey. While the purpose of this paper is to investigate the inclusion of students with disabilities in the Turkish context, there is much of relevance to other international contexts going through similar developmental processes in terms of inclusion.

From thinking to practice: school staff views on disability inclusion in Turkey

This paper presents outcomes of a qualitative interview study conducted in four Turkish primary schools that had been identified by the Ministry of Education as engaging in the inclusion of disabled students. The main purpose of the study was to examine school staff views on inclusion in their schools. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with four class teachers and four school counsellors. Findings from the thematic analysis of the interview transcripts suggested that: (a) school staff held positive beliefs towards educating disabled students in regular schools and believed in the contribution of this to both disabled students and their non-disabled peers; (b) special educational paradigms existed in mainstream schools and shaped professional practice; (c) there was a lack of conceptual and methodological knowledge of inclusion among stakeholders, indicating a need for awareness raising and development; (d) disabled students were far from being fully included within classroom practice; (e) there was a lack of collaboration among school staff, inadequate family engagement and a strong need for effective school leadership in inclusion; and (f) there were individual efforts by the school staff to develop inclusive practices. Findings of this study will be useful in guiding current practice to support inclusion in contexts, like Turkey, where it is at an early stage of maturation. It is also filling a gap in providing first-hand accounts and perspectives of practitioners implementing reforms in difficult circumstances.

Facilitating primary head teacher succession in England: The role of the School Business Manager

School leadership is significant for student learning, but increased workload and complexity are believed to be in part responsible for the difficulties internationally in managing succession, with experienced leaders leaving the profession prematurely and potential future leaders reluctant to take on the role. This article draws on a national government-funded programme of inter-school collaborations in England. Focusing on data from four primary clusters, it explores head teacher perspectives on the ways in which the expertise of a senior School Business Manager was seen to be supportive of head teacher succession within these partnerships through its impacts on the working life of the head teacher at different career stages.

The route to ‘inclusive counselling’: counsellors' perceptions of disability inclusion in Turkey

The present research highlights new challenges and opportunities faced by counsellors in relation to the movement to include students with disabilities within mainstream schools launched by the Ministry of Education in Turkey. The main purpose of the study was to examine perceptions of counsellors in relation to this movement. Interviews were conducted with 12 counsellors working in public schools and in guidance and research centres. Data were collected through interviews which included open-ended questions. Findings from the thematic analysis of the interview transcripts suggested that: (a) counsellors held positive attitudes towards students with disabilities and the attempts to include them through counselling services; (b) understandings of disability were largely based on the deficiency model and difficulties; and (c) counsellors perceived that there were inherent problems in the translation of conceptual and methodological knowledge into practices. Findings of this study might be used to guide policy makers and inform training literature that can help counselling practices be more supportive of disability inclusion in schools.

Perfect Partners or Uneasy Bedfellows? Competing Understandings of the Place of Business Management within Contemporary Education Partnerships

This article examines illustrative cases of partnerships from a government-funded programme of experimental projects in England designed to test out the potential of senior business managers to provide leadership across a group of schools. The article places the programme within the context of international public service reforms and, more specifically, the re-culturation of schools along business lines. The study data are then presented and analysed in relation to the pro-collaboration and pro-business biases in evidence in contemporary thinking about public service delivery. This analysis raises serious questions about how competing education and business values and agendas play out in schools, and their implications for roles and practices within the schools workforce. The article concludes with calls for field members to address this important but neglected area of leadership.