Analysis of theses on problems encountered in multicultural primary schools

In this study, theses aiming to reveal the educational problems experienced in multicultural primary schools where students from different cultures are present were examined with the systematic compilation method. The year, institute, keywords, purposes, research methods, study group or sample, data collection tools, data analysis methods, results and suggestions of these theses were analyzed thematically. In the study, 75 masters and 2 doctoral theses published in the national thesis center between 2008 and 2023 and meeting the inclusion criteria were examined. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that approximately 70% of the theses were conducted by the institutes of universities in the provinces in the west of Turkey. It was determined that concepts such as culture, multiculturalism, migration, immigrant, foreigner, refugee were used more as keywords in the theses. Again, it was revealed that the theses examined were made within the framework of many purposes such as adaptation, attitude, identity development, research review, problems and solutions, teacher competencies, academic success and talent, student behavior, management, language and educational services. It was determined that 64% of these theses were qualitative, 25% were quantitative and 12% were conducted with mixed research designs. The theses examined problems based on the opinions and observations of teachers, students, administrators, parents and other people. In this examination, there were theses that received opinions from only one group, as well as theses that received opinions from more than one group. It was determined that almost all of these theses used different sampling methods such as purposeful sampling method, criterion, stratified, convenience sampling, snowball and easily accessible sampling, maximum diversity sampling. In the conclusions and recommendations in the theses, it was revealed that there were problems in meeting basic needs, curriculum, teaching-learning process, teacher competencies, course materials, learning environment, communication, language, adaptation, student behaviors, cooperation, guidance services, academic deficiencies, education management, family, economic and education policies and that suggestions were developed for these problems. Keywords: Asylum Seeker, Foreign Student, Immigrant, Immigration, Multicultural Education, Multicultural School, Multiculturalism, Refugee.