Multiculturalism in Social Studies Teaching: A Meta-Synthesis Study
Abstract
Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate the findings of studies investigating multiculturalism in social studies teaching in Turkey.
Studies examining the concept of multiculturalism, which belongs to an important place in the social studies course, were
analyzed, and the findings related to what was focused most, what was needed and the subjects that had never been
investigated before were presented.
Design/Methodology/Approach: The meta-synthesis method, which is one of the qualitative methods based on interpreting
and synthesizing the findings of the studies, carried out with a qualitative and mixed method investigating multiculturalism in
the field of social studies teaching. In the meta-synthesis method, researches on the same subject are interpreted from a
critical point of view by creating themes or main templates. Within the scope of the “inclusion criteria” determined, 11 studies
examining multiculturalism in social studies teaching were analysed.
Findings: The findings showed that in order to describe the current situation, the great majority of the studies examined the
documents, and the data collection and data analysis methods were similar due to the document analysis method. Studies
examining multiculturalism in different units of the curriculum of social studies course show that the situations of addressing
multiculturalism in the program have varied over the years, and that there have been significant developments over time in
terms of the representation of multiculturalism in the context of learning domain. Studies conducted on social studies
textbooks show that the reflection of multiculturalism on books took place later than the curriculum. As a result, it is seen that
the level of multiculturalism is still not sufficient.
Conclusion: Instead of conducting descriptive studies that determine the extent to which multiculturalism is represented in
social studies documents, social studies researchers are suggested to carry out studies using different methods that create
products for the creation of multicultural education environments that can be carried out with a social studies curriculum.
Keywords
Social studies, Multiculturalism, Meta-synthesis, Qualitative studies
References
- Acar Çiftçi, Y. A. (2017). Eleştirel Çokkültürlü Eğitim Öğretmen Yeterlikleri Ölçeği (EÇEÖYÖ): Bir Ölçek Geliştirme Çalışması. Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 26(1), 69-99.
- Akar, C. (2017). Sınıf öğretmeni adaylarının eleştirel düşünme eğilimlerinin çokkültürlülük değerlerini yordama düzeyi. Ahi Evran Üniversitesi Kırşehir Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi (KEFAD), 18(1), 741-762.
- Akkaya, N., Kırmızı, F. S., & İşçi, C. (2018). Öğretmen adaylarının çokkültürlülüğe ilişkin algılarının farklı değişkenler açısından incelenmesi. Adıyaman Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 29, 308-335.
- Alkış Küçükaydın, M. (2019). A Qualitative meta-synthesis of science education studies regarding pedagogical content knowledge. Journal of Turkish Science Education, 16(3), 336-349.
- Aslan, S., & Aybek, B. (2018). İlkokul 4. sınıf öğrencilerinin çokkültürlü eğitime dayalı olarak uygulanan etkinlikler ile ilgili görüşlerinin incelenmesi. Kuramsal Eğitimbilim Dergisi, 11(1), 58-82.
- Aydin, H. (2012). Multicultural education curriculum development in Turkey. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 3(3), 277-286.
- Ayvacı, H. Ş., & Er-Nas, S. (2009). Öğretmen kılavuz kitaplarının yapılandırmacı kurama göre öğretmen görüşlerine dayalı olarak değerlendirilmesi. Necatibey Eğitim Fakültesi Elektronik Fen ve Matematik Eğitimi Dergisi, 3(2), 212-225.
- Banks, J. A. (1993). Multicultural education: Historical development, dimensions, and practice. Review of research in education, 19(1), 3-49.
- Banks, J. A. (2013). Çokkültürlü eğitime giriş. (Çev. Hasan Aydın). Ankara: Anı Yayıncılık.
- Başarır, F. (2012). Öğretmen adaylarının çok kültürlü eğitime ilişkin görüşlerinin ve öz-yeterlik algılarının değerlendirilmesi. Yayınlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Erciyes Üniversitesi, Kayseri.