Teaching and learning of middle school social studies in Turkey : an analysis of curriculum implementation

Abstract

This study investigates how teachers and students assess curriculum implementation in social studies courses at middle school in Turkey. Through a survey questionnaire, teachers and students were asked to express their perceptions of the curriculum guidelines, course objectives, materials and instructional and evaluation procedures. The results indicated that the curriculum guidelines assist teachers in selection of the topics and their sequence in all social studies courses. However, they do not leave much room for flexibility fa the individual teacher in these aspects. Teachers find less help in the guidelines in terms of determining instructional methods, materials and evaluation strategies they use in their class. The curriculum focuses mostly on transmission of knowledge while other significant goals like developing thinking skills, positive attitudes toward the subject are emphasized to a lesser degree, and this orientation seems to be reflected in implementation as well. The most common approach to classroom instruction in social studies is recitation and lecturing followed by student presentation. The use of materials other than the course textbook is very limited, and textbook-related activity (e.g., reading) is the common mode of homework assignment given to the students. Short-answer test and oral exams are the most common mode of student evaluation in social studies classes.