Barriers to Yuruk Turkmen preschoolers’ access to education and participation processes: does inclusive education include pastoral nomadic children?

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to examine the access to education and participation processes of Nomadic Yuruk Turkmen children (NYT) in ecocultural viewpoint. The ethnographic method was employed in order to describe and analyze these processes. The sample consisted of four NYT children, their families and teachers. The findings indicate that NYT children face various barriers in access to formal education and participation. These barriers are largely due to the distance between nomadic families’ tents and the school, the low educational level of the parents, the fact that teachers have a limited understanding of nomadic lifestyle and the lack of communication between the nomadic families and teachers. As a result, problems of access to formal education and participation for NYT community remain today as they did in the past.