Inclusive education has been a central objective of international educational policy for several decades. Commitments such as the UNESCO Salamanca Statement (1994) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD, 2006) emphasize the right of all children to participate fully in education systems that value diversity and promote equity. Despite these long-standing international frameworks, the implementation of inclusive education remains uneven, particularly in social-emotional dimensions such as social participation and sense of belonging. In many educational contexts, marginalized students continue to experience social exclusion, limited classroom participation, and weak peer relationships.

Research indicates that the quality of inclusion in schools is strongly shaped by students’ subjective experiences of belonging and social acceptance. According to Prince and Hadwin (2013), the development of a sense of belonging in inclusive educational experiences for students with special educational needs constitutes a key determinant for understanding both the effectiveness and the overall quality of inclusive practices. Empirical studies further demonstrate that children with behavioral difficulties are more likely to be excluded from peer interactions and perceived as contributors to a negative classroom climate. In contrast, children with learning difficulties may experience relatively better social integration (Krull et al., 2014). Moreover, a strong sense of belonging is consistently associated with positive educational outcomes, including higher school engagement, improved well-being, and a reduced risk of early school leaving (Walton & Cohen, 2011).

In the Turkish context, these challenges are particularly salient. Although inclusive education policies are in place, empirical research examining how inclusive practices are enacted at the classroom level, especially through technology-supported interventions, remains limited (İşcen-Karasu & Kayahan-Yüksel, 2023). In particular, studies focusing on social participation and sense of belonging as central outcomes of inclusive education are scarce, pointing to a significant research gap.

Against this backdrop, educational robotics has emerged as a promising yet underexplored approach to inclusive education. Existing research on educational robotics has largely emphasized technical skill development or rehabilitative perspectives, with comparatively limited attention given to its social-emotional and inclusive potential. Drawing on competence-oriented inclusive education frameworks (DIPF, 2019; Müller & Schumann, 2020), inclusion is conceptualized not only as access to learning but also as the interconnected development of technical, social, and emotional competencies. From this perspective, technical learning processes and social-emotional development are understood as mutually dependent, particularly within collaborative learning environments. When embedded in cooperative classroom activities, educational robots may support interaction and participation among diverse learners.

The present study is situated within the Erasmus+ Project Robot4Inclusion (Robots4Inclusion, 2024), a transnational initiative involving six European countries (Germany, Spain, Türkiye, Lithuania, Ireland, and Finland). While the broader project adopts a comparative European framework, the current study focuses exclusively on the Turkish implementation. The study aims to explore how inclusive-oriented child–robot interactions are perceived to relate to social participation and sense of belonging among marginalized primary school students in Türkiye, based on teachers’ classroom observations. The research question guiding the study is: How are changes in social participation and sense of belonging associated with inclusive-oriented child–robot interactions, as perceived by classroom teachers working with marginalized children, including those with special educational needs, low socio-economic status, and immigrant backgrounds?

By presenting qualitative findings derived from teacher interviews conducted before and after a robot-supported classroom intervention, this study contributes to the limited body of research on inclusive educational robotics in the Turkish context. In this respect, the findings suggest that technology-supported, socio-emotional learning-oriented intervention programs may represent a promising approach to addressing the low levels of student belonging reported in PISA data across Europe, while highlighting the importance of teacher perspectives in understanding inclusive classroom processes.

This study employed an exploratory qualitative research design (Creswell & Poth, 2018) to examine perceptions of social participation and sense of belonging in inclusive, robot-supported classroom practices. The intervention was implemented in third-grade classrooms in the western region of Türkiye and was intentionally designed to include a heterogeneous student population. Participating classrooms included children with special educational needs (SEN), students from low socio-economic backgrounds, and students with immigrant backgrounds. The study was conducted in collaboration with six classroom teachers who implemented the intervention in their own classrooms and contributed to the data collection process. The qualitative findings presented in this article are based exclusively on data obtained from these teachers, who were directly involved in the implementation and observation of the intervention in everyday classroom settings. Data Collection Process Qualitative data were collected through pre- and post-intervention interviews. Prior to the intervention, structured pre-intervention interviews were conducted with the six intervention-group teachers to explore classroom dynamics, forms of marginalization, understandings of inclusion and belonging, and students’ social-emotional competencies. These interviews provided a contextual baseline for interpreting post-intervention perceptions. Before classroom implementation, the intervention-group teachers participated in a structured training program focusing on inclusive education, social-emotional learning, and the pedagogical use of educational robotics. The training introduced the activities outlined in the Robots4Inclusion Handbook. After the intervention, semi-structured post-intervention interviews were conducted with the same teachers to explore their perceptions regarding students’ social participation, sense of belonging, and classroom interactions. In addition, a comparison group consisting of five classroom teachers who did not implement the robot-supported intervention participated in pre- and post-intervention interviews. Data from this group were used solely for contextual comparison and were not included in the main qualitative analysis. Intervention Process The intervention was implemented using the Robots4Inclusion Handbook and consisted of a 12-hour teacher-led program. The intervention group included 112 third-grade students (aged 8–9), while a student comparison group of 90 third-grade students followed the regular curriculum without robot-supported activities. Intervention activities were aligned with the CASEL framework (2020). Robot-assisted storytelling served as the primary instructional approach, with the TOKADI robot functioning as a mediating tool for emotional expression. Data Analysis All interview data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Teacher narratives were coded under themes such as social participation and sense of belonging, following an inductive–deductive coding process informed by the study’s conceptual framework.

The findings presented in this study are based on teachers’ classroom observations obtained through pre- and post-intervention interviews. Before the intervention, several challenges related to inclusive practices in the classroom were reported. Refugee students were described as showing limited participation in lessons due to language barriers, while students with special educational needs were frequently excluded from play-based and group activities. In addition, feelings of shyness, avoidance of social interaction, and fear of exclusion were reported among some students. Inclusive practices were largely maintained through teacher guidance. Following the intervention, teachers reported observable changes in classroom interactions. Students who had previously shown limited participation were described as increasingly engaging in classroom activities, such as taking turns to speak and participating in group work. A decrease in exclusion during play and collaborative activities was also reported, with refugee and disadvantaged students being more readily included in peer interactions during robot-supported activities. According to teachers’ views, robot-supported storytelling and collaborative tasks provided a context for communication and interaction among students. In this process, the robot was described as functioning as a tool that facilitated emotional expression and supported group interaction, particularly for students who had previously experienced difficulties in social engagement. Increased awareness of peers’ emotions and a greater tendency to offer support during group activities were also observed. Overall, teachers indicated that the classroom environment shifted toward a more inclusive structure following the intervention. An increased willingness to participate socially and a more evident sense of classroom belonging among marginalized students were reported. In addition, inclusive practices developed during the intervention were described as being more frequently integrated into everyday classroom activities. In this respect, teachers’ observations suggest that technology-supported, socio-emotional learning-oriented intervention programs may represent a promising response to the low levels of student belonging reported in PISA data across Europe.

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