Turkish Education Research Articles

Refugee Students' Perspectives on Science Lessons

This study aims to determine the opinions of Syrian students who have migrated to Turkey regarding science subjects. The present study is a non-experimental descriptive design accompanied by qualitative data collection and analysis procedure. This study was conducted with 87 (41 female, 46 male) Syrian students, who are learning Turkish in the Turkish Teaching Center (TÖMER) in a big city located in the southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey. A questionnaire with two sections developed by the researchers was used for data collection. In the first section of the questionnaire, there are 6 questions related to the demographic features of the participants. In the second section, there are five open-ended questions, which aimed at determining the attitudes of the participants towards science. Each of these five open-ended questions was designed as a writing activity. Content analysis technique was used to analyze the data obtained from the open-ended questions. At the end of the study, refugee students stated that they liked biology the most and least enjoyed the physics lesson because it was easy in science lessons and because it studied living things. Results indicated that science does indeed have an impact on their lives, and they provided the following statements as their reasons. They stated that science is more beneficial for humanity and has a significant influence on our lives.

Pre-Service Turkish and Classroom Teachers’ Views on Root Values

Values are the building blocks of a society; they create societies and contain their characteristics. Accordingly, the teaching of values is very important for a society. The role of teachers in the teaching of values is large. In the 2019 curriculum for Turkish language classes, such values are also referred to as ten root values. Therefore, it is necessary for teachers and pre-service teachers to know the ten root values in the Turkish language teaching programme in terms of teaching values. In this study, the views of pre-service Turkish teachers and pre-service classroom teachers on root values were analysed. The study group consisted of a total of 60 pre-service teachers from Turkish education (30) and classroom education (30) programmes who were studying at a public university in the second semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. A semi-structured interview form consisting of five open-ended questions was administered to these pre-service teachers and the obtained data were analysed with content analysis. When the results of the research were evaluated, it was concluded that pre-service Turkish and classroom education teachers considered values to be basic elements. Pre-service teachers described the role of values in education as supportive, while pre-service Turkish teachers also described the concept as necessary and pre-service classroom teachers described it as a way of raising useful individuals. It was concluded that both groups viewed root values as the values people should have, and the values they viewed as priorities were love and justice. Both groups suggested that empathy be added to the root values. Despite some differences, Turkish and classroom education pre-service teachers generally shared the same views on values and root values.

The evolutionary journey of The Turkish education system, and a comparative study with Pakistan's education system, a research study.

The evolutionary journey of The Turkish education system, and a comparative study with Pakistan's education system, a research study.

Evaluations on the Design Features of the Books Ready for Bilingual Turkish Children Abroad

Turkey has been working on teachers, students, curriculum and materials for 60 years for the teaching of Turkish and Turkish Culture for its bilingual population abroad, which started in the 1950s and intensified after the 1960s, reaching approximately 5 million today. The course and workbooks, which were prepared and sent in Turkey in 2019, are used as course materials by the Ministry of National Education. In addition to this, there are a large number and variety of course and reading books belonging to private publishing houses. There are some shortcomings in some of these books. The fact that some of the design-related elements in the book pages have negative qualities in various aspects negatively affect the teaching. In this qualitative study, in which the findings obtained through document scanning are interpreted and evaluated, the design aspects of the textbooks and reading books prepared for bilingual Turkish children living abroad; It has been tried to understand, see and show how bilingual Turkish children, who are in a different situation from their peers in Turkey in terms of readiness, infrastructure, perspective, universe of meaning and knowledge, are perceived, interpreted and what is learned, and the positive and negative contribution of styles to learning. It has been concluded that the design features of the materials prepared for bilingual children have case-specific subtleties, and what the elements mean and can convey in every respect should be carefully considered. Otherwise, it has been seen that the meaning may be far from what is meant or wrong. The designed element can complicate the subject/activity, make learning difficult, and distract from the purpose. For this reason, the educator/author should be actively involved in the design process.

Bilingual Turkish Teacher Candidates' Metaphoric Perceptions of Turkish: A Case Study of the Turkology Department at the University of Duisburg-Essen

In this study, it was aimed to determine the metaphorical perceptions of bilingual Turkish teacher candidates in Germany towards Turkish. The study group of the research consisted of 63 Turkish teacher candidates studying at different grade levels in Turkistic Department of Duisburg-Essen University, Germany in the winter semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. In order to collect research data, a form was developed so that students could write their metaphors and express themselves clearly. In the research, in which a qualitative approach was adopted, the students said, “Turkish is like……. Because……..’’. They were asked to complete the statement “…”, and a metaphorical discourse determination was made by examining the collected data. Metaphor forms were filled in face-to-face interviews with students. In the research, where prospective teachers were expected to focus on a single metaphor related to the subject and express its reason clearly, the data were analyzed with the content analysis technique. 41 metaphors obtained from 63 valid forms filled by the students were divided into categories according to the similarity and relationality of justification reasons. The metaphors which obtained as a result of the research have been classified into seven different conceptual categories: "belonging and valuing", "continuity and wealth", "being necessary and informative", "being original", "rooted history and scope", ‘'difficulty and distance'’ and ‘'aesthetic and meaningfulness'’ respectively, according to frequency values. The most repetitive metaphors were found as "home, rainbow, sea, tree, hometown, poetry, flower and family", respectively. As a result, it was found that bilingual Turkish teacher candidates in Germany value Turkish and have positive perceptions about Turkish, based on seven conceptual categories and 41 metaphors. In addition, it has been concluded that these pre-service teachers, who are aware of the importance of Turkish in Germany and are trained to protect it, to claim and to pass it on to future generations, have sufficient awareness about the purpose of their profession.

The Madrasa Historiography in the History of Turkish Education

Türkiye’de eğitim tarihi yazıcılığı ve bunun içinde medrese tarihi yazıcılığı II. Meşrutiyet döneminde başlamıştır. Eğitim tarihinin nasıl yazılacağına dair ilk örnekler Tanzimat ve II. Abdülhamid dönemi metinlerinde kendini göstermiştir. Cumhuriyet döneminde özgün örneklerini veren kapsamlı eğitim tarihi araştırmalarından bazıları ilerleyen dönemin paradigma kurucu temel metinleri haline gelmiştir. Bunların başında Nâfî Atuf Kansu, Osman Ergin, Nevzad Ayasbeyoğlu, Faik Reşit Unat, Hasan Ali Koçer, Cavit Binbaşıoğlu, Cahit Yalçın Bilim, Necdet Sakaoğlu ve Yahya Akyüz’ün çalışmaları gelmektedir. Bu araştırmada, adı geçen eğitim tarihçilerinin temel eserlerinde, medrese konusunun nasıl ele alındığı, kaynakları, metodolojisi, temel iddiaları, söylemleri ve geleceği etkileme durumları üzerinde durulmuştur. Doküman analizi metoduyla yapılan araştırmada adı geçen eğitim tarihçilerinin temel eserlerindeki medrese kısımları kendi içinde değerlendirilmiş, ardından da ortak ve ayrılan noktalar üzerinde değerlendirme yapılmıştır. Netice olarak, Türk eğitim tarihi medrese tarihi yazıcılığında zihniyet ve kaynak tercihleri bakımından ortak kabullerin, ön yargıların ve ezberlerin olduğu, bunun yanında bazı bilgi yanlışlarının ve metodolojik hataların devam ettiği görülmüştür.

CEFR Işığında Türkçenin Yabancı Dil Olarak Öğretimi Programı

Turkish Maarif Foundation, an institute teaching Turkish as a foreign language (TFL) worldwide, is an important institution in the field. The foundation applies TFL Curriculum approved in November 2020 by the MoNE Board of Education in Türkiye. The purpose of the current study is to elucidate to what extent the Turkish as a Foreign Language curriculum utilized by Türkiye Maarif Foundation. The approved curriculum overlaps with the meta-text entitled Common European Framework of References for Languages (CEFR, 2020) as to teach languages in Europe. In the study, the outcomes for speaking and writing skills at B1 Level are taken into account as the level accepts learners as independent users. To collect qualitative data for this descriptive research, a document analysis was performed on the descriptor scales of the curricula, in terms of speaking and writing activities in the Turkish course books prapered, published and utilized by one State University in Ankara, Turkey. Findings reveal that CEFR defines more general outcomes because of its role as a meta-text providing recommendations for language teaching and learning, whereas TMF provides more details developed and deduced from these references. The reason for having more details calibrated in TMF descriptors results from the fact that it subdivides the outcome according to the contents of descriptors. Hence, the subdivided descriptors appear in high quantity calibrated separately in TMF Curriculum. Consequently, the number of outcomes calibrated in TMF is observed rather high compared to CEFR ones. Yet, there are striking results displaying how the outcomes cohere, indeed. As the studies conducted in this field appear limited, it is assumed that the current study will contribute to those working in the field.

Human rights education implementation in Turkish teacher education: faculty members’ and teacher candidates’ views

Teachers play an essential role in promoting human rights and a just society. However, the lack of Human Rights Education (HRE) knowledge, skills, and values among teachers in Turkey is a commonly reported issue. This study aims to assess the need for HRE implementation in the Turkish Teacher Education Programmes (TTEP), where academic research on HRE is scarce. Data were collected from a survey of 632 Teacher Candidates (TCs) and 47 Faculty Members (FMs), interviews with 14 FMs, and focus group interviews with 34 TCs. Descriptive statistics and the chi-square test were used to analyse the quantitative data, while the qualitative data were analysed using a qualitative data analysis framework proposed by Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña (2019). The results indicate the urgent need to integrate HRE through curricular and extracurricular activities. We also consider the benefits and challenges of implementing HRE in TTEP.

Digital Environments Used by Visually Impaired Turkish Teacher Candidates in the Education Process

Digital Environments Used by Visually Impaired Turkish Teacher Candidates in the Education Process

Academic Literacy Skills of Postgraduate Students in the Department of Turkish Education

This study aims to identify the academic literacy skills of postgraduate students specializing in the department of Turkish education. This study employed a convergent parallel mixed method, one of the mixed methods. The first working group consisted of 161 students for the quantitative dimension and 25 students in the second group for the qualitative dimension. The study deployed the Academic Literacy Scale and a semi-structured interview form as data collection tools. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were used during quantitative data analysis, while content analysis was used for qualitative data. The quantitative findings revealed that the mean academic literacy level score of postgraduate students in the Department of Turkish Education was 4.07, indicating an agreement level; the student's academic literacy level significantly differed across the level of postgraduate education in favor of those pursuing the doctoral degree; no significant difference was observed across postgraduate education stage and gender. The qualitative findings suggested that postgraduate students in the Department of Turkish Education predominantly utilized scientific research processes to identify problem situations, had a moderate level of knowledge regarding scientific research processes, and exhibited awareness of the need to act honestly and responsibly in scientific research and to obtain the necessary permissions. Additionally, they read academic sources to gain information about a subject and to review the literature, even though they needed help reading academic sources in languages other than Turkish. Besides, academic sources were found to provide adequate information. Moreover, they were determined to write academic texts according to a certain writing plan and felt inadequate in writing academic texts. Notably, the education they received in Turkish education improved their academic literacy skills.

Yabancı Dil Olarak Türkçenin Öğretiminde Kullanılan Ders Kitaplarındaki Ölçme Uygulamalarının Sözlü Üretim ve Sözlü Etkileşim Becerileri Kazanımlarına Göre İncelenmesi

The main purpose of this study is to reveal to what extent the measurement practices prepared for verbal production and interaction skills in the “Altay I am Learning Turkish A1 book” overlap with the acquisitions of the in the Ministry of National Education Turkish Teaching as a Foreign Language Program (2020). The speaking skill, which is part of the narrative skills among the fundamental language skills, is divided into two categories in the book: oral production and oral interaction skills. In the Ministry of National Education (2020), the speaking skill is addressed under two subheadings as oral production and oral interaction skills. In this research, the achievements in the Turkish as a Foreign Language Teaching Program, which were prepared in accordance with the modern language teaching approach in collaboration between the Ministry of National Education and Maarif Foundation in 2020, are considered as the benchmark. The research is qualitative and descriptive in nature. The measurement applications for oral production and oral interaction in the Altay Turkish I'm Learning A1 book were examined and interpreted using the document analysis technique. According to the results obtained from the research findings, it is observed that the measurement applications in the book align closely with the achievements of the Ministry of National Education Turkish as a Foreign Language Teaching Program.

Yabancı Dil Olarak Türkçe Öğretiminde Aslanın Krallığı Anadili Okuma Hikâye Kitabının Temel Seviyeye (A1-A2) Uyarlanması

Teaching Turkish as a foreign language, which has received increasing interest in recent years, needs supplementary materials beyond textbooks. The necessity of preparing supplementary reading books that will meet this need has emerged. Creating reading materials especially suitable for students' levels will contribute to language teaching and a better understanding of Turkish culture. In the current situation, when teaching Turkish to foreigners in Turkey, the lack of reading materials suitable for the target language levels is noticeable. In this context, within the scope of qualitative research, the reading book titled The Kingdom of the Lion, which was prepared as a native language reading book, was transformed into a basic level reading book in a foreign language by using adaptation techniques. Each paragraph of the story is translated separately and shown in tables, using the simplification, expansion and simplification methods generally used in adaptations. According to the findings, it was concluded that preparing basic level (A1-A2) reading material for teaching Turkish as a foreign language could contribute to students' improving their reading skills and better understanding. It has been concluded that creating story books at appropriate levels for those learning Turkish as a foreign language will make a valuable contribution to language teaching practice. Keywords: Turkish as a foreign language, Reading teaching, Story Adaptation, Basic Level

1970 ve 1980 Yılları Arasında Benimsenen Türk Eğitim Politikasının Sinema Üzerinden İncelenmesi: Hababam Sınıfı Örneği

Although cinema reflects the culture of the society it is found, it cannot be said that its sole function is to reflect this culture. Cinema also questions the education policy applied in that society, the education system, and its point of view towards education and presents this questioning to its audience on the white screen. This questioning is an important tool, especially in terms of educational philosophy, because educational philosophy seeks answers to the questions and problems of education by using the cognitive tools of philosophy, like questioning and criticism, and criticism of the education policy constitutes an important part of these problems. In this study, Hababam Sınıfı-an educational-based film series, which started to be aired between 1970 and 1980, was analyzed philosophically, and some inferences were made regarding the Turkish education policy adopted at that period of time and based on these films made in the relevant period, teacher models, student characters and characteristics of the education system were revealed. Based on the teacher models/characters in the film, the expectations of the teachers from their students and the perspective of society towards the teaching profession in that period were interpreted. Similarly, based on the student models/characters in the film, the perspectives of students towards the Turkish education system, their expectations from the Turkish education system, and the effects of teachers and the education system of that period on students were analyzed. Finally, based on the teacher and student characters reflected in the films, the characteristics of the Turkish education policy and education system between 1970 and 1980 were explained, and some recommendations were made for future research.

Examination of Secondary School Turkish Lesson Textbooks in Terms of Traditional Children s Games

In this research in qualitative model, it is aimed to examine the secondary school Turkish textbooks prepared within the framework of the Turkish Lesson Curriculum, which was renewed in 2017 and is still in force with various updates, in terms of including traditional children's games. In this context, secondary school Turkish textbooks published by the Ministry of National Education, which have been decided to be taught by the Board of Education since the 2017-2018 academic year, are the study objects of the research. The textbooks mentioned within the scope of the document analysis method were subjected to descriptive analysis separately by three different field experts in terms of including traditional children's games. Since the preferences in determining the contents of traditional children's games are subjective, Miles and Huberman's (2016) reliability formula was used in order to ensure unity among the three researchers and to increase the coding reliability, and the reliability of the research was found to be 0.87 at the end of the calculation. At the end of this process, consensus among researchers was achieved. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the textbooks were insufficient in terms of referring to traditional children's games, the games in the books did not comply with any standards or plans, the traditional games were included in the 5th grade textbooks at most, and very few and sloppy visuals were added. Suggestions for curriculum developers, textbook authors and teachers were presented at the end of the study. It is thought that the data and results obtained from the research will contribute to the researchers working in the fields of folklore and Turkish education in terms of presenting data.

The Effect of Know-Want-Learn Strategy on Academic Listening Skills of Turkish Teacher Candidates

Çalışmanın amacı, Bil-İste-Öğren (BİÖ) stratejisinin Türkçe öğretmeni adaylarının akademik dinleme becerisine etkisini incelemektir. Çalışmada karma yöntem araştırma desenlerinden iç içe karma (gömülü) desen kullanılmıştır. Araştırmanın nicel aşamasında ön test-son test kontrol gruplu yarı deneysel desen kullanılmıştır. Nitel aşamada ise yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu aracılığıyla deney grubuyla görüşme yapılmıştır. Araştırmanın katılımcıları, Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit Üniversitesi Türkçe Öğretmenliği Programı üçüncü sınıf öğrencileridir (n=24). Veri toplama aracı olarak Akademik Dinleme Başarı Testi ve BİÖ Stratejisi Görüşme Formu kullanılmıştır. Nicel verilerin analizi için SPSS25 programından yararlanılmıştır. Nitel veriler içerik analiziyle çözümlenmiştir. Bulgulara göre son testte BİÖ stratejisiyle uygulama yapılan deney grubu lehine anlamlı düzeyde fark olduğu belirlenmiştir. İçerik analizi sonucunda da deney grubu; BİÖ stratejisiyle ilgili olarak zihinsel aktiflik sağlama, dinleme becerilerini geliştirme, yeni bilgiler öğrenmeyi sağlama, dikkat geliştirme, ön bilgileri harekete geçirme, sınıf ortamına katkı sağlama bakımından olumlu görüş bildirmişlerdir. Ayrıca Türkçe öğretmeni adaylarının çoğu BİÖ stratejisini meslek hayatlarında kullanmayı düşündüğünü belirtmiştir.

Critical Pedagogy in Turkish Education System: Academicians' Opinions

This study analyzed the Turkish education system in terms of critical pedagogy principles. Through the semi-structured interview form developed within the scope of the research, interviews were conducted with 32 academicians, and the data obtained as a result of the study were brought together on a question basis in the first stage and coded using MAXQDA software. The codes that show the same theme group characteristics and provide integrity of meaning within themselves were brought together. The data obtained in this context were analyzed, and the codes, categories, and themes were visualized and presented in MAXMaps according to their frequency of repetition. As a result of the research, the participants primarily defined the concept of critical pedagogy as a questioning perspective. The participants stated that the education system does not respond to differentiated needs, does not contribute to social justice and equality, and does not pave the way for social change and development. Participants also believe a qualified and sustainable policy is not implemented in the Turkish education system. It has been argued that teachers do not contribute to pupils becoming influential individuals or thinking critically and that the reasons for this are the educational systems in place. As a result of the study, it was suggested that education should be free from ideology, teachers should be supported intellectually and professionally, and school-family cooperation should be ensured

Investigating The Relationship Between Turkish Teacher Candidates’ Attitudes Towards E-Learning, E-Learning Readiness, Digital Literacy Levels and Academic Achievement in Distance Education Process

This study aims to examine the relationship between Turkish teacher candidates' attitudes towards e-learning, e-learning readiness, digital literacy, and their academic achievement in distance education process. The study was conducted using a survey model. The study group consists of 271 teacher candidates studying at the Department of Turkish Language Teaching in the 2021-2022 academic year. The study used e-learning readiness scale, attitude towards e-learning scale and digital literacy scale as data collection tools. As a result of the study, it was found that Turkish teacher candidates' attitudes towards e-learning and digital literacy levels were moderate, while their e-learning readiness were high. No significant relationship was found between Turkish teacher candidates' attitude towards e-learning and their academic achievement, and no significant relationship was found between attitude towards e-learning and digital literacy. There is a significant negative relationship between attitude towards e-learning and e-learning readiness. It was revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between digital literacy and academic achievement and between readiness and attitude towards e-learning. There is also a positive relationship between readiness for e-learning and digital literacy. Academic achievement of Turkish teacher candidates was significantly predicted by readiness for e-learning; however, academic achievement was not significantly predicted by attitude towards e-learning and e-learning readiness.

Ortaokul 6. Sınıf Öğrencilerinin Yazma Becerilerinin Çeşitli Değişkenler Açısından İncelenmesi

Communication is a skill that people have used since ancient times. Although communication differs in terms of its features in the process, it can be basically defined as the ability to understand and explain. The concept of "writing" has a special place in the skill of telling. Because the development of civilizations has generally been thanks to written culture. Knowledge and culture have been transferred to future generations through writings and have preserved their importance until today. The aim of this study is to examine the 6th grade students' ability to express their feelings, thoughts, dreams and impressions in writing, considering the importance of writing skills, in terms of various variables. In this direction, the case study design, one of the qualitative research methods, was preferred in the study. The research group of the study consists of 75 students at the 6th grade level in a state secondary school located in the southeast of Turkey and 5 Turkish teachers working in the same institution. In the data collection process of the study, firstly, a text with a free theme was written to the students. The data obtained from these texts were analyzed with the writing skill level determination rubric prepared by Bahşi (2018). In addition, student writings were evaluated in accordance with the scoring directive by using the attitude scale developed by Can and Ünal (2017) to determine the students' attitudes towards writing. Then, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Turkish teachers. In these interviews, teachers' opinions were taken on the variables that affect the students' writing skill levels. When the findings obtained from the study were interpreted, it was seen that the students' writing skill levels were not sufficient, but their attitudes towards writing were positive. In addition, this situation was affected by teacher, student, program and environment variables as a whole. However, it is seen that the environment variable negatively affects the level of writing skill in a dominant way.

An Examination of the Attitudes of Teacher Candidates towards Mobile Learning

This study aims to ascertain how potential Turkish language and literature and Turkish teacher candidates tend to mobile learning. In this context, it investigates whether there are any notable differences in these aspiring teachers' attitudes toward mobile learning based on elements like gender, age, major field of study, grade level, personal tablet ownership, computer ownership, income level, social media usage, and enrollment in computer courses. A relational survey model, a quantitative research method, is used in this study. 209 females and 65 males who willingly joined the study at a university in Turkey's east comprise its participant pool. The findings reveal that prospective teachers of Turkish language and literature, as well as Turkish language teaching, strongly endorse the statements in the Mobile Learning Attitude Scale. Furthermore, their attitudes towards mobile learning do not exhibit significant variations concerning variables such as gender, major field of study, grade level, personal tablet ownership, possession of a computer, income level, social media usage, and participation in a computer course. Nevertheless, a noteworthy difference is identified in attitudes towards mobile learning across different age groups. The outcomes imply that while substantial distinctions exist among age groups, the attitudes of prospective teachers in the aforementioned fields do not significantly differ in terms of demographic or technological aspects. These results underscore the importance of integrating mobile learning into teaching and learning. Encouraging positive attitudes towards mobile learning and conducting additional research on this subject are strongly recommended.

Fransa Ortaokul Tarih-Coğrafya Öğretim Programlarının İncelenmesi

French and Turkish societies have been in intense interaction in every field since the Ottoman Empire period. For this reason, it is important for the future of both countries that the republics of Turkey and France follow and interact with each other in the field of education as in every field. Because France has had important effects on the shaping of the Turkish education system. In this context, the developments in the field of education in France should be closely followed. In addition, the developments in France after the French Revolution of 1789 have influenced all societies on issues such as human rights and democracy and helped the concept of citizen to have its current meaning. For this reason, it is important to examine the current situation of disciplines such as Social Studies, which are directly related to human and social life, in France. However, when the relevant national literature was analyzed, it was found that there are very few studies on this subject. This situation was seen as an important gap in the national literature and it was thought that a study on the History-Geography course, which is taught in France as an equivalent of the Social Studies course, would make an important contribution to the literature. With this in mind, it was aimed to examine the History-Geography Course Curriculum being implemented in secondary schools in France. The research is a qualitative study and document analysis method was used. Descriptive analysis method was preferred in analyzing the data. As a result of the research, it was seen that the curriculum being taught in secondary schools in France consists of three parts as skills, content, learning and teaching process, the content is arranged in the form of themes and subjects, themes and subjects are arranged separately according to grade levels, and there are no target achievements in the curriculum. It has been concluded that the themes and topics related to history in the curriculum are mostly oriented towards France and European societies, considering the multicultural and cosmopolitan structure of France, the curriculum is not multicultural enough for the minority groups in France, and the geography topics are created with a more universal perspective for different regions of the world compared to history topics. In addition, it has been determined that there is no section on evaluation in the curriculum, but it is recommended to use process-oriented evaluations based on performance as well as exams in the learning-teaching process.