Framing Inclusive Digital Education: A Comparative Analysis of International Policy Documents

Özet

This study examines how inclusive digital education is conceptualised across international policy frameworks developed by the European Union, UNESCO, and the OECD in the post-COVID era. Using qualitative document analysis and comparative content analysis, nine policy documents published between 2020 and 2024 were analysed through the Inclusive Digital Education framework. The analysis employed deductive coding across five dimensions: strategic vision and policy coherence, inclusive pedagogical frameworks, professional capacity and school-level enablers, monitoring and continuous improvement, and emergent topics. Findings indicate that inclusive digital education is strongly represented at the strategic policy level, with equity and access emerging as dominant themes. Inclusive pedagogical frameworks are widely emphasised, particularly regarding learner diversity and adaptive teaching practices. However, professional capacity and school-level enablers receive comparatively moderate attention, while monitoring and evaluation mechanisms remain limited across documents. Emerging topics such as digital safety and wellbeing appear increasingly prominent but unevenly distributed. Institutional differences are also observed: European Union documents emphasise policy coherence and implementation tools, UNESCO adopts a rights-based and equity-oriented perspective, and OECD documents highlight systemic transformation and emerging risks. The results reveal both convergence and divergence in institutional approaches to inclusive digital education. The study identifies a persistent policy–practice gap and highlights the need for clearer operational guidance, strengthened teacher capacity, and equity-sensitive monitoring mechanisms to support inclusive digital transformation.