Problems faced by special education school principals: mixed methods research

Abstract

The aim of this research was to examine the problems faced by special education school principals in Turkey. For this purpose, with the permission of the district directorate of national education, data were gathered by interviews with 9 principals who were working at special education schools in Kepez district of Antalya province and voluntarily participated in the research. In this study, in which the convergent mixed method research method was used, the research data collected through semi-structured interviews were analyzed using theme, descriptive and content analysis method in the qualitative phase, and using descriptive statistics based on the frequency of the themes in the quantitative phase. Research findings indicated that special education school principals faced problems in management, bureaucracy, and educational policies; accordingly, it was found that managers could cope with some of these problems, and they needed comprehensive support from the central administration to solve some of them. As a result, it was understood that the number and quality of personnel, the physical conditions and capacities of the schools, the materials specific to the special education field, the contents of the curriculum and resource books, and most importantly, the funds provided by the state were insufficient. In addition, it was revealed that the bureaucratic process did not work fast and effectively, and that families with children in need of special education could not provide adequate support for their children's education.