An overall assessment of the educational roles TV contents play in raising children’s historical consciousnes

Abstract

This study attempts to determine what kind of effects the contents of TV children consume have on their cognitive development and whether they have any contribution to their educational lives. In this study, the effect of television usually on education especially on history education has been discussed. To reveal this effect clearly, children aged 7 to 8 who had not received history education and whose historical consciousness had not yet developed fully were included in the study. Face to face interviews were used to collect data for the study. Based on the consideration that pictures are the best way for children to express themselves, the children in this study were asked to draw pictures of what the word “Ottoman” reminds them. The children were asked questions based on the Ottoman representations they drew. In this way, data related to the content of television program children watch (cartoons, soap opera, TV program etc.) and to the ways they use these content in practice were collected. Based on the data obtained, the positive and negative effects of television content were presented and some suggestions with regard to the ways children at developmental ages can benefit from TV contents were made in the discussion section. Keywords: Television, Ottoman, children, education, history