A Comparison of Social Studies Curriculum: A Case of South Korea and Turkey

Abstract

Countries use education as a tool to shape the desired human profile in line with universal principles. For this purpose, the courses in the curriculum have specific objectives. Social studies is an important course in the curriculum of countries for the purpose of raising “qualified people”. This course is included in the curriculum of many countries around the world (Canada, Japan, South Korea, Finland, Turkey, etc.) due to its mission of “realizing social existence”. The aim of this study is to compare the South Korean Social Studies Curriculum updated in 2015 and the Turkish Social Studies Curriculum updated in 2017. The data of the research, which was carried out by adopting the qualitative research approach, were obtained through document analysis. The data obtained from the research were analyzed according to the document analysis stages. When the results of the research are evaluated in general, it is seen that South Korea Social Studies Curriculum and Turkey Social Studies Curriculum are similar in terms of purpose, content (geography and economics topics) and achievement code system. In South Korea, the Social Studies course takes place at the primary, secondary and high school levels, and in Turkey it takes place at the primary and secondary school levels. It has been determined that the social studies course hours in the grade levels of both countries also differ.