مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - Examining The Integrity and Necessity of The Life Studies Based on Teachers’ Views

Abstract :

With the new regulation of 4+4+4, which has started to be applied within the framework of 12-year compulsory education in Turkey, while the Social Studies course including natural, physical and social sciences continues to be taught in the third grade, the Sciences course has recently been added to the curriculum. This regulation has brought along some changes in the subject integrity and content of the Social Studies course and led to some arguments with regard to the necessity of this lesson. This is a descriptive study aiming to put forth the class teachers’ opinions regarding the necessity and integrity of the Social Studies course. The study can also be considered a qualitative case study as one case related to a specific teacher group in a school is analyzed thoroughly. The study group consists of eleven class teachers working at a public school in Arnavutköy district of Istanbul. As a data collection tool, group interview method has been used. Themes have been obtained through content analysis method used in the analysis of the data obtained through the focus group interview, and direct quotations have been given in the research findings by calculating the coder reliability rate. During the interviews carried out with the participants, most of the interviewed teachers have emphasized the necessity of the Social Studies course, but they have also touched upon some problems regarding the integrity of the course, mentioning that it is not enough to introduce their social environments to students and preparing them for the real life.