How to navigate in society: An investigation into social studies education

Abstract

This study aims to show the role of social skills in the social studies curriculum, the educational process, the problems encountered in the process, and the solutions proposed by teachers to these problems. The basic qualitative research method, one of the qualitative research methods, was used for the study. In this regard, the general objectives, competencies, skills, and abilities of the 2018 social studies curriculum were examined based on the Akkok classification of social competencies, and then, in light of the findings, focus group interviews were conducted with eight teachers, including fourth-grade teachers and social studies teachers. Content analysis was conducted in the first part of the research data analysis, and descriptive analysis was conducted in the second part. Considering the program's components, it is evident that social skills are not given much attention. When examining the learning content, it was found that only 16% of all grade-level learning content included social skills. Based on interviews with teachers, it was found that student-centred activities and creative drama were used most frequently to teach social skills. In addition, it was found that family and school were responsible for the difficulties in teaching social skills. Teachers proposed solutions to the problems to improve school-family collaboration and move away from a success-oriented education system. Based on the research findings, suggestions were made for practitioners and future researchers.