Evaluation of the inclusive education processes of visually impaired primary school children from the perspective of right to education

The aim of this research is to evaluate the similarities and differences between the legislation and practices by considering the inclusive education processes of visually impaired children from the perspective of right to education. In the research in which qualitative research method was used; visually impaired children receiving education at the primary school level in public schools in four different districts of Istanbul as the principal target group, and their school administrator, school psychological counselor, classroom teacher, parent and the closest peer were selected by purposive sampling method. Semi-structured interview forms were used as data collection tools. The interviews were made face to face and the data obtained were analyzed by content analysis. Research results have shown that visually impaired children mostly get peer support and mother support in accessing physical environments, and they access the tools and materials which they use in the education process mostly through parents. It has been observed that there is continuous cooperation between parents and classroom teachers, the classroom teachers mostly provide descriptive / audio narrative support while lecturing to visually impaired children, and the most important factor that negatively affects the inclusion process is the inadequacy of physical conditions. It has been determined that the attitudes of classroom teachers, other parents and peers in the classroom towards visually impaired children mostly consist of acceptance and support. It has been determined that visually impaired children mostly attend school trips with their parents, and they mostly prefer to stay in the classroom during the breaks between courses. It has been determined that the physical environment of the schools, the equipments of the educators, educational materials and support services do not adequately meet the needs of visually impaired children. Participants of the research, mostly stated that their main expectation and suggestion for the solution is to improve the physical conditions.