Problems Encountered by Secondary School Mainstreaming Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this research is to determine the problems faced by secondary school inclusion students during the COVID-19 epidemic. Case study method was used in the research. The participants of the research consist of secondary school inclusion students who received distance education during the COVID-19 epidemic. Interviews were conducted with a total of 24 inclusion students, six students from each grade level (fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth) in the secondary school. In accordance with ethical rules, participants were given code names. Interview was used as a data collection tool in the research. The interview questions were prepared for the problems that inclusion students encountered during course preparation, during the course and at the end of the course during the COVID-19 epidemic. The data were subjected to content analysis. The data was coded and categorized and themes were found. The data is organized according to codes and themes. Meaning integrity was achieved and interpreted from the themes emerging from the data. An analysis of students' responses regarding the challenges they faced during the lesson preparation process in the epidemic period reveals that technical issues were the most commonly encountered problems. When the results obtained in the research are evaluated, it is a new and unusual situation that the special education activities received by mainstreaming students are provided through distance education. Therefore, the education that mainstreaming students will receive should be organized for the distance education system and planned so that the students can develop at the highest level.