Bushra Al-Badawi, a Ph.D. candidate in Educational Administration, defended her dissertation entitled: "An Analytical Study of the Palestinian Inclusive Education Policy and its Applications: Towards Developing a Proposed Concept in the Light of International and Local Standards."
The study aimed to attest the implementation of the inclusive education policy in the Palestinian governorates, in addition to examining the applied educational policy for inclusive education in Palestine as well as the international standards for inclusive education. The researcher sought to develop a proposed model for inclusive education in the Palestinian society to be applied in Palestinian schools to raise awareness of the needs of inclusive education in Palestine.
The study adopted four dimensions of inclusive education, which are (concept, policy data, "structure and systems" and practice) from UNESCO (2016). To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher used content analysis, questionnaire, and interviews. The researcher, along with the focus group, used the influence diagram and the decision tree to build the proposed model. The results revealed that the policy data showed that inclusive education in Palestine is in line with the Ministry of Education. It also emphasized the crucial need for national policy, educational regulations and practices in Palestine to provide inclusive education for all learners with disabilities in accordance with international standards.
The study concluded that inclusive education in Palestine needs to be developed. Therefore, the researcher designed a proposed model that seeks to improve inclusive education in Palestine. The researcher also recommended that teachers be trained for inclusive education, as well as designing textbooks and curricula to meet students' needs.
The thesis was supervised by Prof. Dr. Mohammad Omran. The committee of examiners included: Prof. Dr. Sami Adwan, Prof. Dr. Tayseer Abdullah, and Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Obaid. It should be noted that this dissertation is the first and only one written in English in the Doctoral Program of Educational Administration.
