Forced migration, which compels people to move to safer places because of the negative conditions such as wars or natural disasters (Hazan, 2012), has become an important reason of Syrian movements to other countries including Turkey recently. The conditions in the original country and in the destination, interfering impediments, individuals factors are the determinants to start migration according to Lee (1966). Turkey entered into force the law for Foreigners and International Protection in 2014, which gives all the refugees the right to free access to health, education and labor market (Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Turkey, 2019). Under this legislation, Turkey is supposed to integrate 3,6 millions of refugees ( Göç İdaresi Genel Müdürlüğü Verilerine Göre Türkiye'deki Suriyeliler [Syrians in Turkey according to Data of Immigration Administration General Directorate], 2019) to the society in terms of economy, culture and education so that they can get used to living in Turkey conditions. Their adaptation to the society and remedy of racism or negative feelings released by refugees can be provided by education. At this point, inclusive education has gained importance at schools including Syrian students, which targets a school environment where each student is treated equally (Özcan, 2018). On the other hand, in the schools with refugees, hegemony, which maintains the status quo in a society consisting of values, opinions and ethics and prohibits people to act out of the box (Gramsci, 1971), can be faced against integration of students with different origins as hegemony perceives differences as a trouble which needs to be categorized. Accordingly, school administrators’ approach to inclusive education practices designed for refugee students is vital of importance since they are one of the valuable components of the education system with their authority in the decision making mechanism.

Even though inclusion was basically used to integrate marginalized students into school, it has a wider usage -especially with the refugees- for integration of minority groups in the society (Sidhu & Taylor, 2012). It leads students to keep sound relationships with the host country as well as their ethnic background (Berry, 2006). Syrian refugees are one of the groups that should be granted such inclusion designated to integrate refugees to both school and social environments by providing the appropriate psychosocial and academic support. In addition to being a basic human right, education of migrant or refugee children is also important for facilitating their adaptation to social, economic and cultural life since education serves as a bridge for refugees to be able to carry themselves into the future and connect with society (Rousseau & Guzder, 2008). In Turkey, as a member European country, there has been a rapid acceleration in schooling rates of Syrian refugees in a short period of time. However, Syrian students who become schooled face some problems in terms of their adaptation to the education process, which prevents them from going through a qualified education process (Emin, 2016).

Inclusive education for refugee students has been a globally attractive topic due to schools’ potential for huge effects on the lives of students with diverse needs. Even though a wide range of studies on inclusive education has been done so far, there is a limited number of studies analyzing the inclusion of Syrian refugees into higher education (Higgins & Misawa, 2019; Turner & Fodzar, 2010). Accordingly, the aim of the current study is to examine the perceptions of administrators in higher education on perpetuating inclusive education practices. The perceptions of higher education administrators on the inclusion of Syrian students into higher education will be discussed based on three themes as (1) incongruity, (2) hegemonic integration, and (3) leading the experience.

The case discussed within the current study is perceptions of administrators in a higher education institution with Syrian refugees regarding inclusion of Syrian refugees into higher education. Case study examines the particularity and complication of a single case leading the researcher to figure out what is occurring in significant circumstances (Stake, 1995). Accordingly, participants were selected among the administrators in different departments including Syrian students of the same university in İstanbul. Experience of the administrators as an administrator varies from 2 to 20 years. The participants have not got any education about inclusion, nor have they attended conferences on inclusion. Semi-structured interview form including six questions was developed by the researchers based on the literature review as the main data collection tool of the study. The form was revised based on the feedback given by 4 experts in the field of Educational Sciences. Also, a pilot interview was carried out with one of the administrators in the same university. All interviews were done on January, 2020. The interview technique was preferred in the study as it contributes to reach the detailed and comprehensive description of case or phenomenon (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2003). The data were triangulated through face-to-face semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews and meeting documents to provide consistency and credibility. Thanks to data triangulation, the researcher can reach much data and examine many aspects of the case (Neuman, 2009). Before starting the study, the researchers applied to the university Institutional Review Board (IRB) so that they could research about a topic including human subjects and permission was gotten. To analyze the data collected, the researchers transcribed the recordings and field notes taken during the interviews. As for analysis, three steps were applied by the researchers manually as exploring the general sense, (en)coding the data (Saldaña, 2009) and specifying the themes (Creswell, 2012). The multiple revisions done by 3 experts contributed to the reliability as credibility, confirmability and reliability can be set through member check process (Maxwell, 2009). Also, investigator triangulation was applied by discussing the alternative interpretations of the collected data with 2 experts in the relevant field. Therefore, multiple triangulation was applied in the current study to maximize credibility. “This ensures that the study will be accurate because the information draws on multiple sources of information, individuals, or processes” (Creswell, 2012, p. 259). The analysis resulted in three themes: incongruity, hegemonic integration, and leading the experience.

As a result of the analysis of the findings gathered from the participants, three themes were reached. The findings exhibit that almost all the participants experience incongruity as to inclusion process of Syrian refugees into higher education. Most of the participants state that they have to deal with the clash of languages, behaviors, cultures and education system in higher education institutions. The findings reached through the focus group meetings supported this with true experiences of academics and the refugee students in the same university. Incongruity which is one of the themes of the study consists of 4 categories as problems caused by language background, problems arising from behavioral background, problems led by cultural background and problems originating from academic background. According to the findings, inclusion is perceived by the administrators in higher education institutions as a hegemonic tool to integrate refugees into the education system and culture of the host country. There are two categories under the second theme which is Hegemonic Integration: mainstream culture and integration into the education. The study findings indicate that there are a dominant culture and operational education system from its curriculum to exam style that inclusion practices aim to make refugees accommodate themselves to. The findings demonstrate that the last theme Leading the Experience presents that the administrators in the higher education institution chosen in the study do not have any preparations to integrate the Syrian refugees into the higher education, however, they learn by improvising as they experience. The theme contains two categories as crisis management and being solution-oriented. Both findings reached through individual interviews and the meeting minutes bolster these categories by emphasizing the situations the administrators have had to intervene in during the course of the events pertaining to the inclusion of Syrian refugees into higher education.

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