Policy-practice decoupling in Turkish teacher education: ceremonial conformity in inclusive pedagogy

Purpose/Introduction This study examines the structural gap between policy discourse and pedagogical practice in the field of inclusive teacher education in Turkish education faculties, using institutional theory as a framework. Method This cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of a total of 396 academics from 21 different departments at 41 universities, using convenience sampling due to voluntary online participation. An adapted version of UNICEF's Inclusive Teacher Development Survey was used as the data collection tool. The three sections, consisting of 17 items, measure (a) actual teaching practices (technical core), (b) policy alignment (institutional front), and (c) theoretical stance. The decoupling mechanism was operationalized as a systematic inconsistency between high policy support and low implementation scores. Results Our findings indicate that the vast majority of academics (91.4%) support increased awareness of disability, but only 60.8% stated that they have prepared to address children with special needs. Of these, 30.6% reported having implemented meaningful inclusive adaptations. Nearly half (43.5%) held low professional expectations for students with special educational needs and disabilities, while 35.9% advocate for segregated special education schools rather than inclusion. Early childhood and special education departments showed significantly higher implementation than subject education departments (e.g., mathematics, science) which exhibit significantly lower implementation scores compared to basic education departments. Discussion/Conclusion These findings empirically show that faculties maintain their legitimacy by aligning their discourse with global inclusive education norms, but their core curriculum and pedagogy remain fragmented, demonstrating “ceremonial compliance.” Institutional theory clarified how legitimacy pressures create structural differentiation between policy discourse and pedagogical practice. Based on the findings of this study, we suggest that systematic accountability must be established to prevent inclusion from remaining a symbolic discourse within institutions.