Comparison of Secondary Education Mother Tongue Teaching Courses in the International Baccalaureate Program with the National Program in terms of Critical Thinking

Abstract

AbstractThe current study has aimed to compare the objectives, content, teaching-learning process, and evaluation dimensions of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) Language A1 Course teaching program with those of the teaching programs of high school 12th grade Language and Expression and Turkish Literature courses in relation to critical thinking skills based on the opinions of students within a Turkish context. The present study adopted a qualitative research method and employed a case-study design. The study was conducted in Istanbul Prof. Dr. Mumtaz Turhan Social Sciences High School, which was the first and only state school implementing IBDP in Turkey during the fall term of the 2011-2012 school year. The study group was composed of 11 twelfth graders from this high school who participated in the IBDP and 15 twelfth graders participating in the national program. The study's data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with the students. The collected data were structured in the Nvivo 9 qualitative data analysis program and then analyzed by means of content analysis. At the end of the study, based on the students' opinions, it was concluded that although the objectives, content, learning-teaching process, and evaluation of the Language A1 Course made greater contributions to the development of students' critical thinking skills as compared to those of the Turkish Literature and Language and Expression Courses, there are several problems in implementing the IBDP in Turkey.Keywords: National program * International Baccalaureate Diploma Program * Critical thinking * Language A1 course * Turkish literature * Language and expression coursesIn the 21st century, as borders between cultures, communities, and countries are becoming increasingly nominal, intense and fast changes continue to be experienced. In a shrinking world of rapid developments in communication technologies, just as societies must be competitive in order to maintain their existence so should individuals making up societies adopt global values and attitudes. Thus, globalization profoundly affects communities and their members, urging them and their systems-including education-to change their structures and processes. In an information society, greater attention should be paid to the training of individuals able to think creatively and independently, who have self-confidence, who are able to solve problems and take risks, who know the available avenues to access to information, who can produce information, and who can easily adapt to a changing environment.As such, there is a great need for internationally influential education systems and curriculum to determine the quality and road map of the education to be given in these systems (Calik & Sezgin, 2005). By means of curricul, while national values are imparted to students, they should be encouraged to adopt an international perspective. Therefore, curriculum to be developed and implemented in one country should be able to contribute to the development of students in compliance with international standards.Among the European Union countries, the foundation of the Bologna process was laid in 1999, after which attempts were made to develop an European standardization and diploma accreditation system in higher education. These attempts have aimed to facilitate the transfer from the higher education system of one country to that of another so that the movement and employment of students and academicians will be made easier (Higher Education Council [YOK], 2009). In this direction, important developments and changes occurred in EU member countries from 1999 to 2012. These attempts were directed to the standardization and provision of higher education at an international level, requiring the adaptation of a similar approach in the primary and secondary levels of education. It is now not possible to talk about a standardization stemming from the adaptation of international perception at elementary and secondary levels among countries throughout the world. …