Views of school administrators on intercultural education

The main objective of this study was to identify the views of school principals on the phenomena related to intercultural education and intercultural education itself. This descriptive study was designed with a basic qualitative research model within the framework of qualitative research approach. The participants of the study are the school principals who continue their non-thesis master's education in Dicle University Institute of Educational Sciences, Department of Educational Administration Inspection Planning and Economics in 2015-2016 academic year. The data collection tool for this study was a structured written interview form, prepared by the researcher. inductive content analysis was used in the data analysis. As a result of the research, it was seen that the themes of common values and values created by people came to the fore in the perceptions of school principals about the concept of culture. It has been concluded that school principals identify cultural differences with the themes: differences in life styles, life in other geographies and social differences. It has been observed that the themes of interpersonal communication and talking to a different one are emphasized in the perceptions of intercultural communication. While the theme of conflicts arising from differences in language and religion has been emphasized in the problems experienced by school principals during intercultural communication process, it has been seen that increasing dialogue and adopting universal values are the majority view in terms of the views on the solutions for the problems experienced during this process. As a result of the research, it has been observed that school principals are mostly not informed about intercultural education, implementation and importance of intercultural education. In this context, it can be said that it would be useful to conduct different studies to determine the opinions of the school principals who will carry out their roles simultaneously as both the participant of and the supporter for the implementation of the intercultural education programs recommended in our country.