Аннотация:
Guaranteeing equal access for children to education, as a pedagogical problem, is
connected with the idea of «inclusive education.» The legislation of the Republic of
Kazakhstan guarantees equal access to quality education. Nevertheless, this policy remains
raw in Kazakhstan. There is a growing gap in access to quality education between children in
urban and rural areas, and the pandemic has given an additional boost to this process. This
qualitative research explores secondary school teachers' perspectives, attitudes, and concerns
about digital inclusion in three rural schools in the Almaty region. The current study will
employ a qualitative research design to identify factors that public school teachers determine
as obstacles to digital inclusion in the rural classroom. One-on-one semi-structured interviews
allow respondents to share perspectives in narrative detail. This research aims to address the
following questions: (1) How do secondary school teachers in rural schools use digital
technology for teaching and learning? (2) How do secondary school teachers in Kazakhstani
rural schools understand the concept of digital inclusion? How can digital technology be used
to promote equity and inclusion? (3) What do secondary teachers believe are some of the
challenges they face in using digital technology in rural schools? How do rural school teachers
believe they can positively influence opinions and practices to create digital inclusion? Ten
school teachers in the Almaty region took part. The researcher plans to analyze qualitative
data, which will involve a preliminary review of the data and the development of cluster codes, allowing for the emergence of common patterns and themes. Findings from the research
will fill the existing gap in the literature and add to the knowledge base.
Keywords: inclusive education, digital inclusion, teachers in rural schools, attitudes,
digital divide, equality