Are Syrian children integrated into our education?: Turkish teachers’ perspectives on the inclusive education project

ABSTRACTIntegrating Syrian children into the Turkish national educational system has been one of the most recent and significant discussion issues in educational research and policy making areas. With a primary objective of alleviating Syrian refugees’ linguistic difficulties, a nationwide inclusive education project; Promoting Integration of Syrian Kids into Turkish Education System (PIKTES), has been implemented since 2016 in 26 cities all over Turkey. The current study was designed with the aim of listening to the voices of Turkish teachers, participating in the integration program of Syrian students into the Turkish education system and community life. Seven teachers at primary level schools shared their experiences during the project, and the thematic analysis of the data revealed the challenges of implementation due to school-related factors such as language barrier, social adaptation, teachers’ attitudes, and teaching materials; family-related factors as violence, financial problems and social integration; and teacher development. Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsTuğba Çelik KeskinTuğba Çelik Keskin is a doctoral candidate in English Language Education at Bahçeşehir University and an English language instructor at a private university in Istanbul. She holds a BA and MA degrees in Foreign Language Education. Her research interests include sociolinguistics, and sociocultural theories of learning.Derin AtayDerin Atay is a professor in the Department of Foreign Language Education at Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Turkey. She holds a BA degree in English Language and Literature, MA and PhD degrees in English Language Education. Her research interests include teacher research, culture in language education, pre- and in-service teacher education, and critical thinking in education. She has authored numerous articles in indexed journals and book chapters.