The objective of this study is to
evaluate the content of social studies textbooks, which are written and
taught based upon the social studies curriculum adopted between 1968-2018, in
terms of the curriculum and content designs, and some general educational
principles. For this purpose, document analysis, one of the qualitative
research methodology, was used in this study. Accordingly, 12 social studies
textbooks for different levels of class written based upon the social studies
curriculum adopted in 1968, are the primary document resources of the
research. The curriculum, upon which the textbooks are based, was also used
as resource. For data analysis, content analysis technique was used. The
results obtained from the study show that the generally-adopted approach to
develop the content of social studies textbooks was single-disciplinary
approach before 2005; however it was replaced by interdisciplinary approach
then, with the impact of changing curriculum. Another study result shows that
the content of social studies textbooks was developed based upon the
disciplines of history and geography in general, and also citizenship to a
limited extent before 2005. However, as it is determined, many other
disciplines such as psychology, sociology, economics, science and technology
in addition to those specified above, have a major impact on the content of
textbooks since this date. Also, the relevant results indicate that the
knowledge content was much richer in textbooks before 2005; however, in the
current social studies textbooks, the knowledge intensity has decreased as
the knowledge variety has increased in time. It has been determined that the
social studies textbooks are developed by considering the chronology and from
near-to-far principles in general so far.
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