Forming Effective Inclusive Education: From School Principals Perspectives

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to determine the opinions of school principals in early childhood education in terms of their perception about access to education, participation in education and support to education within the scope of inclusive education, about the practices they carry out in their organizations and about what kind of other studies to be done. It was designed as a phenomenological study, a qualitative research methodology, as it aimed at an in-depth examination of the views of school principals. The study group consisted of 10 kindergarten principals working in Gaziantep city centre. Semi-structured open-ended interview protocol was used to collect data. The research data were analysed using content and descriptive analysis methods. As a result of the study, it was concluded that school principals had a general perspective on access to education, participation in education and support to education, which are the components of inclusive early childhood education, and they had some practices in their organizations either planned or unplanned. Furthermore, school principals pointed out the limitations of schools regarding inclusive education and a great many areas to be improved to enhance them.