Inclusive Education in Turkey Across Ethical Responsibility, Human Rights and Cultural-Moral Justifications

Abstract

This article explores the conceptualization and justification of inclusive education by Turkey’s Ministry of National Education (MoNE). To this aim, it critically reviews MoNE’s manual titled “Manual for Teachers Who Have Foreign Origin Students in Their Classes.” This manual justifies inclusive education on two grounds: universalist concepts such as human rights on the one hand and nativist-culturalist terms such as fütüvvet (generosity) and Ahilik morality on the other hand. The MoNE suggests that schools should adapt themselves to the cultural needs of students, not vice versa. Yet, it formulates the ethical roots of inclusion based on ethno-religious (Turkish-Islamic) boundaries. Thus the MoNE presents an ideal norm that refugees should adopt. Since the education system is still based on an ideology of “one language, one religion, and one nation”, “national education” and “inclusive education” seem incongruent terms in the Turkish context. The article points out that structural inclusion that refers to access to education is not enough. Inclusivity and social cohesion also involve relational inclusion that contributes to students’ identity development and sense of belonging to broader society. For this, there is a need for field studies focusing on how inclusion is negotiated by different actors.