Push and Pull Dynamics: A Comparative Perspective of Azerbaijan’s Inclusive Education Policy

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 4:20 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Policy Perspectives on Inclusive Education: Global and Local Insights (Table 4)

Abstract

Through qualitative analysis of policy documents and interviews with key stakeholders—a national policymaker, an advocate of international principles, a practitioner, and a scholar—this study presents the first empirical analysis of Azerbaijan’s inclusive education (IE) policy in relation to international frameworks, with a specific focus on the internalization of global norms within national education policies and practices. Drawing on neo-institutionalism, I demonstrate that Azerbaijan’s policy-making process for IE occurs under coercive and normative pressures to gain legitimacy. From this perspective, I argue that the real issue is the lack of system-wide commitment and intention, which leaves room for the vested interests and ideologies of policy actors to exert influence over the link between policy and practice, leading to push-and-pull dynamics.

Author

• Naila Omarova, Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan