Evaluation of the National Education Council decisions in line with the components of inclusive education: from 1939 to 2021 : Inclusive education in Turkey between 1939 and 2021

The aim of the study is to evaluate the National Education Council [NEC] decisions made from 1939 to 2021 in line with the components of inclusive education. In this context, the NEC decisions were examined in line with the themes of access, support, and participation, which are the components of inclusive education. In this study, document analysis was used and thematic analysis was performed. Access, support, and participation were determined as themes in this study. When the findings related to the access sub-theme are examined, it is seen that the decisions about equality of opportunity, special edification, rural-urban differences, disabled children, and technological support stand out. There are more decisions related the teacher education in the support sub-theme, and more decisions related the learning process in the participation sub-theme. According to the findings obtained from the study, it is seen that there are more decisions regarding inclusive education, especially since the 9th NEC. The highest number of decisions were taken at the 20th NEC. Considering that the NEC is an important meeting where decisions on education policies are taken for Turkey, it is recommended to increase systematic efforts to achieve the goals of inclusive education. Keywords: National Education Council; education policies; inclusive education; equal opportunity in education