Sakiz, Halis

Introduction For the last few decades, there has been an increase in the number of countries which have aimed at developing inclusive education (IE) in their education systems (Lindsay, 2000). Turkey, like many other developing countries, has been one of the countries which committed to the idea of IE, especially in the last two decades. In Turkey, students with disabilities have been identified as the most excluded and vulnerable groups in education and an understanding of inclusion which places disabled students in mainstream schools is adopted (Rakap &amp; Kaczmarek, 2009). The inclusion movement in Turkey is promising in terms of the recent policy-making activity targeting IE and increasing the population of students with disabilities in regular schools. On the other side, the changes brought about by the national inclusion policy have included new roles and responsibilities for professionals working at schools and implementing inclusive practices. Psychological counselors are one of these professional groups who are supposed to assume important responsibilities within the inclusion movement. This paper presents findings of a qualitative research which was conducted with psychological counselors working in Turkey. The study investigated counselors’ roles within the movement to enhance the quality of IE. The following research question was asked: ‘’What are the views of psychological counselors regarding their own roles within the inclusive education movement in Turkey?’’ Methodology This study collected data from eight psychological counselors working in four different reagons of Turkey. During the research, six counselors were working in schools and two in Guidance and Research Centers. The main tool was a semi-structured interview schedule including open-ended questions. Permission forconducting the study was taken from relevant bodies in the University of Manchester and the Turkish Ministry of National Education. Informed consent was taken from all participants and confidentiality was guaranteed. Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts was carried out in a way to generate codes and identify relevant themes. Assuming a semi-structured study design, the whole analysis process was informed by existing relevant literature and remained open to newly emerging codes and themes. Findings Findings of the study are presented in the following themes: Work overload For counselors working in Turkey, the assignment of new roles within the inclusion movement have brought new requirements for them on a large scope, from carrying out the assessment process of students, to guiding professionals working at schools. In addition, their responsibility is intensified while they have to make decisions as for the placement of students with special educational needs as well as undertaking follow up evaluations in cooperation with assessment units, families and other stakeholders. However, they usually lack sufficient time, resources and motivation in order to carry out these tasks. Unclear roles The broad range of tasks which is often coordinated with the initiative of psychological counselors and directed with their decisions requires specifications in terms of clear role definitions. However, in this study counselors reported that these specifications are either missing or vaguely mentioned in the policy,which makes it difficult to serve many purposes at the same time. Also, the difficulty is intensified when they are considered as ‘the main responsible staff to implement inclusive education’. Need for understanding inclusive education better According to counselors working in Turkey, lack of conceptual and methodological knowledge of IE has made it difficult to implement the obligations required in the policy texts. They reported that this lack of knowledge existed not only among themselves but among families, administrators and other school staff. Lack of collaboration and leadership Counselors reported that the process of implementing inclusive practices is heavily influenced by the decision, referral and supervision of psychological counselors who have to carry out significant roles in terms of diagnosis and counseling. However, it was reported that counselors have to carry out these roles usually without sufficient external assistance and satisfactory collaboration with other stakeholders including teachers, administrators and families.In conclusion, the inclusive education movement in Turkey is accelerating and responsibilities of staff, including counselors, are increasing. As a key figure in the process, counselor roles can be an opportunity to enhance the quality of inclusive education when they receive necessary training, support and resources/facilities. References Lindsay, G. (2007). Educational psychology and the effectiveness of inclusive education/mainstreaming. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 1-24. Rakap, S., &amp; Kaczmarek, L. (2010). Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion in Turkey. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 25, 59-75

Roles of school counsellors in Turkey within the inclusion movement: new challenges, new opportunities

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

The University of Manchester - Institutional Repository