Development and Validation of a Critical Pedagogy Scale: Teachers’ Evaluations of the Turkish Education System

Year 2025, Volume: 6 Issue: 2, 259 - 289

Ertan Adanaş , Şehnaz Nigar Çelik

Abstract

In this study, it is aimed to develop a scale that enables teachers to evaluate the Turkish education system through the lens of critical pedagogy principles and to use this scale to assess the system accordingly. A secondary objective of the research is to examine whether teachers' evaluations differ based on factors such as educational attainment and years of professional experience. The study employs a descriptive survey design, and data were collected during the 2023–2024 academic year from teachers working in public and private primary, secondary, and high schools located in the central districts of Van province. A non-probability, purposive sampling method was used to select participants. Within the scope of the study, a “Critical Pedagogy Scale” was developed. During the pilot phase, the scale was administered to 215 teachers, while in the final implementation, it was administered to 615 teachers. As part of the validity studies, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted, yielding a three-factor structure. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that the three-factor structure demonstrated good model fit indices. For reliability, item analysis was conducted, and Cronbach’s alpha as well as test-retest reliability coefficients were calculated. The findings indicated that the scale possesses acceptable levels of reliability and validity. Based on the data obtained from the developed scale, it was found that teachers with postgraduate degrees and those with longer professional experience perceived the Turkish education system as being less aligned with critical pedagogy principles compared to their counterparts with only undergraduate degrees and fewer years of experience. Overall, teachers evaluated the Turkish education system as moderately aligned with the principles of critical pedagogy. Postgraduate and more experienced teachers were more critical of the system’s adherence to these pedagogical principles.

Keywords

critical pedagogy , education policy , curriculum & instruction , scale development

Ethical Statement

Ethics committee permission for this study was obtained with the decision of Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Ethics Committee dated 05.12.2023 and numbered E-85157263-604.01.02-452887

References

• Aliakbari, M. & Allahmoradi, N. (2012). On Iranian school teachers’ perceptions of the principles of critical pedagogy. International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 4(1), 154-171.
• Allen, R. L., & Rossatto, C. A. (2009). Does critical pedagogy work with privileged students?. Teacher Education Quarterly, 36(1), 163-180.
• Althusser, L. (1994). Devletin ideolojik aygıtları (Y. Alp & M. Özışık, Çev.). İletişim Yayınları.
• Altun, T., & Gülay, A. (2017). Determining the competence perceptions of newly appointed teachers and the problems they encounter. Dicle University Ziya Gökalp Faculty of Education Journal, (31), 738-749. https://doi.org/10.14582/DUZGEF.1837
• Apple, M. W. (2004). Ideology and curriculum. Routledge.
• Aslan, M., & Kozikoğlu, İ. (2015). Pedagojik formasyon eğitimi alan öğretmen adaylarının eleştirel pedagojiye ilişkin görüşleri. Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 15(1), 1–14 https://doi.org/10.17240/aibuefd.2015.15.1-5000128591
• Brown, T. A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. The Guilford Press.
• Büyükgöze, H., & Fındık, L. Y. (2018). Eleştirel pedagojinin eğitim sistemindeki görünümü: Öğretmenler üzerine bir çalışma. Elementary Education Online, 17(3), 1336–1352. https://doi.org/10.17051/ilkonline.2018.466355
• Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2018). Sosyal bilimler için veri analizi el kitabı (24. bs.). Pegem Akademi.
• Çelik, S. N., & Memduhoglu, H. B. (2022). The evaluation of the English language teacher education program in Turkey. International Journal of Educational Methodology, 8(4), 833-851. https://doi.org/10.12973/ijem.8.4.833
• Chin, W. W. (1998). The partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling. In G. A. Marcoulides (Ed.), Modern methods for business research (pp. 295–336). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Coffey, H. (2008). Critical literacy. Retrieved May 13, 2009.
• Cohen, J. (1988). The analysis of variance and covariance. Statistical power analysis for the behavioural sciences.
• Çokluk, Ö., Şekercioğlu, G., & Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2012). Sosyal bilimler için çok değişkenli istatistik: SPSS ve LISREL uygulamaları (2. bs.). Pegem Akademi.
• Costello, A. B., & Osborne, J. W. (2005). Best practices in exploratory factor analysis: Four recommendations for getting the most from your analysis. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 10(1), Article 7.
• Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (S. B. Demir, Trans.). Ankara: Eğiten Kitap.
• Croasmun, J. T., & Ostrom, L. (2011). Using Likert-type scales in the social sciences. Journal of Adult Education, 40(1), 19–22.
• Crocker, L., & Algina, J. (1986). Introduction to classical and modern test theory. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
• Dal, S. (2018). MEB aday öğretmen yetiştirme programındaki kitapların eleştirel pedagoji açısından değerlendirilmesi (Master's thesis, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü).
• Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Recruiting and retaining teachers: Turning around the race to the bottom in high-need schools. Journal of curriculum and instruction, 4(1), 16-32. https://doi.org/10.3776/joci.2010.v4n1p16-32
• Day, C., & Sachs, J. (2004). Professionalism, performativity, and empowerment: Discourses in the politics, policies, and purposes of continuing professional development. In Christopher Day, Judyth Sachs (Eds.), International handbook on the continuing professional development of teachers (pp. 3–32). Open University Press.
• Dede, Y., & Yaman, S. (2008). Fen öğrenmeye yönelik motivasyon ölçeği: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Necatibey Eğitim Fakültesi Elektronik Fen ve Matematik Eğitimi Dergisi, 2(1), 19-37.
• DeVellis, R. F., & Thorpe, C. T. (2021). Scale development: Theory and applications. Sage Publications.
• Doyle, W., & Carter, K. (2003). Narrative and learning to teach: Implications for teacher-education curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 35(2), 129–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022027022000023053
• Farr, J. (1997). New teachers: Becoming a balanced teacher: Idealist goals, realist expectations. The English Journal, 86(6), 106–109.
• Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS: Introducing statistical method (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.
• Field, A. (2024). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. Sage publications limited.
• Field, A. (2024). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. Sage.
• Findik-Coşkunçay, D., Alkiş, N., & Özkan-Yildirim, S. (2018). A structural model for students' adoption of learning management systems: An empirical investigation in the higher education context. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 21(2), 13-27. https://doi.org/10.1037/t70573-000
• Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (1993). How to design and evaluate research in education (10th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
• Freire, P. (1993). Pedagogy of the oppressed (M. B. Ramos, Trans.). Continuum. (Original work published 1970)
• Freire, P. (2009). The risks and fears of transformation. In Conversations on critical pedagogy.
• George, D., & Mallery, P. (2024). IBM SPSS statistics 29 step by step: A simple guide and reference. Routledge.
• Giroux, H. (2006). Is there a role for critical pedagogy in language/culture studies? An interview with Henry
• Giroux by Manuela Guilherme. Language and Intercultural Communication, 6(2), 163-175. https://doi.org/10.2167/laic235.0
• Giroux, H. A. (2004). Critical pedagogy and the postmodern/modern divide: Towards pedagogy of democratization. Teacher Education Quarterly, 31(1), 31–47.
• Giroux, H. A. (2018). The terror of neoliberalism: Authoritarianism and the eclipse of democracy. Routledge.
• Giroux, H. A. (2020). On critical pedagogy (2nd ed.). Bloomsbury Academic.
• Giroux, H. A. (2024). Teachers as intellectuals: Toward a critical pedagogy of learning. Bloomsbury Academic.
• Giroux, H. A., & Baysal, B. (2007). Critical pedagogy and neoliberalism. Kalkedon.
• Groves Price, P. & Mencke, P. D. (2013). Critical pedagogy and praxis with native american youth: Cultivating change through participatory action research. Educational Foundations, 27(3-4), 85-102.
• Gündüz, M. (2022). International students’ perceptions on collaboration and intercultural communicative competence. Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi SBE Dergisi, 12(3), 1493-1505.
• Halx, M. D. (2014). A more critical pedagogy: Could it reduce non-completer rates of male Latino high school students? Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 22(2), 251–274. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2013.825876
• Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Pearson.
• Halx, M. D. (2014). A more critical pedagogy: could it reduce non-completer rates of male Latino high school students? The student perspective. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 22(2), 251-274. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2013.825876
• Haralambos, M., & Heald, R. M. (2009). Sociology: Themes and perspectives. Oxford University Press.
• Holec, H. (1979). Autonomy and foreign language learning. Oxford: Pergamon.
• Hooper, D., Coughlan, J., & Mullen, M. R. (2008). Structural equation modeling: Guidelines for determining model fit. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 6(1), 53–60.
• Huberman, M. (1993). The model of the independent artisan in teachers’ professional relations. In J. W. Little & M. W. McLaughlin (Eds.), Teachers’ work: Individuals, colleagues, and contexts (pp. 11–50). Teachers College Press.
• İnal, K. (2010). Critical pedagogy: A modern emancipatory approach in education. Alternative Education e-Journal, 1, 14–23.
• Jamieson, S. (2004). Likert scales: How to (ab)use them? Medical Education, 38(12), 1217-1218. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2929.2004.02012.x
• Jöreskog, K. G., & Sörbom, D. (1993). LISREL 8: Structural equation modeling with the SIMPLIS command language. Scientific Software International, Inc.
• Kartal, M., & Bardakçı, S. (2018). Reliability and validity analyses with SPSS and AMOS applications. Akademisyen Kitabevi.
• Kesik, F., & Bayram, A. (2015). An evaluation of the education system from the perspective of critical pedagogy. Mersin University Journal of the Faculty of Education, 11(3), 900–921. https://doi.org/10.17860/efd.42583
• Kincheloe, J. L. (2011). Critical pedagogy and the knowledge wars of the twenty-first century. In K. Hayes, S. R.
• Steinberg, & K. Tobin (Eds.), Key works in critical pedagogy (pp. 385-405). Sense Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-397-6_29
• Klassen, R. M., & Chiu, M. M. (2010). Effects on teachers' self-efficacy and job satisfaction: Teacher gender, years of experience, and job stress. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(3), 741-756. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019237
• Kline, P. (2000). The handbook of psychological testing (2nd ed.). Routledge.
• Kline, R. B. (1999). Book review: Psychometric theory. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 17(3), 275–280. https://doi.org/10.1177/073428299901700307
• Kline, R. B. (2023). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (5th ed.). Guilford Press.
• Köse, A. (2016). Evaluation of candidate teacher training process according to school administrators' views. Abant İzzet Baysal University Journal of the Faculty of Education, 16(3), 924-944.
• Kozikoğlu, İ., & Çökük, K. (2017). Beginning teachers' completion of induction program in a different province: Opinions and experiences of beginning teachers. Ankara University Journal of Faculty of Educational Sciences, 50(2), 167-200.
• Kurt, T., Okumuşlar, M., & Seki, T. (2023). Validity and reliability study of teachers' critical pedagogy orientations scale. Ahmet Keleşoğlu Faculty of Education Journal, 5(3), 665-678. https://doi.org/10.38151/akef.2023.77
• Mallery, P., & George, D. (2000). SPSS for Windows step by step. Allyn & Bacon.
• Marsh, H. W., Balla, J. R., & McDonald, R. P. (1988). Goodness-of-fit indexes in confirmatory factor analysis: The effect of sample size. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 391–410. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.103.3.391
• McLaren, P. (1999). Schooling as a ritual performance: Toward a political economy of educational symbols and gestures (3rd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.
• McLaren, P. (2002). Critical pedagogy and predatory culture: Oppositional politics in a postmodern era. Routledge.
• McLaren, P. (2015). Life in schools: An introduction to critical pedagogy in the foundations of education (6th ed.). Routledge.
• Nunnally, J.C. and Bernstein, I.H. (1994) The assessment of reliability. Psychometric Theory, 3, 248-292.
• Osterfelt, C. (2011). Critical dialogues: An action research project and a critical pedagogy professional development group for public school teachers in Peoples, AZ. Prescott College.
• Özaydınlık, K., & Sağlık, M. A. (2021). Teachers’ approaches to the principles of critical pedagogy: A mixed-method study. Psycho-Educational Research Reviews,10(2),126-141
• Özdamar, K. (2017). Ölçek ve test geliştirme yapısal eşitlik modellemesi IBM SPSS, IBM SPSS AMOS ve MINTAB uygulamalı. Eskişehir: Nisan Kitabevi, 78-79.
• Parlar, H. (2012). Bilgi toplumu, değişim ve yeni eğitim paradigması. Yalova Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 2(4).
• Peterson, R. E. (2003). Teaching how to read the world and change it: Critical pedagogy in the intermediate grades. The critical pedagogy reader, 365-387.
• Şahin, Ç., Demir, M. K., & Arcagök, S. (2016). Öğretmen adaylarının eleştirel pedagoji ilkelerine yönelik yaklaşımlarının çeşitli değişkenler açısından incelenmesi. Erzincan Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 18(2), 1187-1205. https://doi.org/10.17556/jef.46732
• Sarikaya, İ., Samancı, O., & Yılar, Ö. (2017). Aday öğretmen yetiştirme sürecinin aday ve danışman sınıf öğretmenlerinin görüşleri kapsamında değerlendirilmesi: Bir karma yöntem çalışması. Gazi Üniversitesi Gazi eğitim fakültesi dergisi, 37(3), 939-989.
• Schermelleh-Engel, K., Moosbrugger, H., & Müller, H. (2003). Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: Tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures. Methods of psychological research online, 8(2), 23-74.
• Schumacker, R. E., & Lomax, R. G. (1996). A beginner's guide to structural equation modeling. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
• Spring, J. (1991). American education. An introduction to social and political aspects. Addison-Wesley.
• Sümer, N. (2000). Yapisal Eşitlik Modelleri: Temel Kavramlar ve Örnek Uygulamalar. Türk Psikoloji Yazilari.
• Tabachnick, B. G. ve Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th Edition). Boston: MA: Pearson.
• Taşgın, A., & Küçükoğlu, A. (2017). Öğretmen Adayi Perspektifinden Eleştirel Pedagoji: Atatürk Üniversitesi Örneği, Uluslararası Türkçe Edebiyat Kültür Eğitim (Teke) Dergisi, 6(2), 1189-1204. https://doi.org/10.7884/teke.3920
• Tavşancıl, E. (2010). Tutumların ölçülmesi ve SPSS ile veri analizi. Nobel Akademik Yayıncılık.
• Terzi, A. R., Şahan, H. H., Çelik, H., & Zöğ, H. (2015). The relation between teacher candidates' epistemological beliefs and critical pedagogy principles. Journal of Research in Education and Teaching, 4(1), 344–356.
• Thompson, B. (2004). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis: Understanding concepts and applications. American Psychological Association.
• Topsakal, C., & Duysak, A. (2017). Opinions of candidate teachers and other stakeholders regarding the pre-service teacher training process. Sakarya University Journal of Education, 7(3), 625–639. https://doi.org/10.19126/suje.368228
• Worthington, R. L., & Whittaker, T. A. (2006). Scale development research: A content analysis and recommendations for best practices. The Counseling Psychologist, 34(6), 806–838. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006288127
• Yılmaz, K. (2009). Elementary school teachers’ views about the critical pedagogy. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 18(1), 139–149. https://doi.org/10.3860/taper.v18i1.1042
• Yılmaz, K., & Altınkurt, Y. (2011). Prospective teachers' opinions regarding critical pedagogy. Ahi Evran University Journal of Faculty of Education, 12(3), 195–213.
• Yılmaz, K., Altınkurt, Y., & Çokluk, Ö. (2011). Development of the educational beliefs scale: A validity and reliability study. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 11(1), 335–350.
• Zeichner, K. M., & Liston, D. P. (2013). Reflective teaching: An introduction. Routledge.