Exploring school exclusion through the perspective of child labourers living in Sultanbeyli, on the periphery of Istanbul, Turkey H. Özden Bademci*, E. Figen Karadayı , Narin Ba  gdatlı Vural Maltepe University, Marmara E gitim Köyü 34857 Maltepe, _ Istanbul, Turkey A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 25 January 2016 Received in revised form 15 April 2016 Accepted 7 June 2016 Keywords: School exclusion Child labour Poverty A B S T R A C T This study employs a socio-ecological perspective to explore the impact of the community, school environment and personal circumstances of young people living in the squatter district of Sultanbeyli in Istanbul, Turkey, who have been excluded from school and who are working in very difficult conditions. The views explored in this paper are derived from semi-structured interviews that covered the reasons for their exclusion. The findings show that the elimination of poverty and the provision of universal education are linked and that one cannot be achieved without the other. The impact of poverty on the processes of school exclusion requires greater recognition, because it helps to perpetuate an intergenerational cycle of social and educational disadvantage. In the case of these young people from Sultanbeyli, the school system has failed to contribute to their inclusion; instead, it has further increased their marginal, disadvantaged position by unintentionally pushing them into the worst forms of child labour and criminality. ã 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction There has been progress in helping children in developing countries to access basic education; however, sustained educa- tional access remains problematic in the poorest regions of the world (Dunne and Ananga, 2013), and this contravenes the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in multiple ways (Hemphill and Schneider, 2013). This study employs a socio-ecological perspective (Miller, 2010; Slaughter-Defoe et al., 1990; Waters et al., 2009; Thomas, 2001) to discuss the circumstances of the community, school environment and personal lives of the excluded students living in Sultanbeyli, (Turkey) who participated in the study. Sultanbeyli is a squatter district in Istanbul and is a typical ‘third-world settlement’, with low levels of educational attain- ment, high levels of fertility and a strikingly low level of female participation in economic activities (Pınarcıo glu and Işık, 2008). In this study, the factors of vulnerability in the phenomenon of school exclusion will be explored, in an attempt to gain insights into the unique perspectives of 20 youngsters aged 15–18 years who have been excluded from school and have gone into workplaces with very difficult conditions. They all attend the vocational training centre in Sultanbeyli once a week and work in hazardous conditions for the rest of the week. They have to work for long hours and are paid very little; they may be exposed to high temperatures, chemical hazards and a high risk of accidents caused by cuts and burns. The study utilises the qualitative method, as opposed to starting with a hypothesis, so that the investigation is not restricted to predetermined concepts and the significance of concepts is not prejudged. This paper explores the views of the 20 young people as derived from semi- structured interviews, which covered their school experiences leading to their exclusion. Gersch and Nolan (1994) argue that, in order to understand the effects of exclusion, the child’s view needs to be elicited and explored; too often, however, the viewpoint of students remains unheard (Stumpers et al., 2005). In addition, Rudduck et al. (1996) suggest that the least effective learners are most likely to be able to highlight aspects of the systems that constrain commitment and progress; these are the voices least likely to be heard and yet they should be the most important. Many schools have adopted relational approaches to taking account of the social context; however, such approaches and their proponents have been criticised for not examining the school * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: ozdenbademci@hotmail.com (H. Ö. Bademci), figenkaradayi@maltepe.edu.tr (E. F. Karadayı), narinbagdatli@maltepe.edu.tr (N.B. Vural). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.06.001 0738-0593/ã 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. International Journal of Educational Development 50 (2016) 51–58 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Educational Development journal homepage: www.else vie r.com/locate /ijedudev