THE USE OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN SOCIAL STUDIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN THE USA AND TURKEY

Year 2011, Issue: 22, 1 - 24, 10.10.2013

Ahmet Şimşek

Abstract

In this study the importance of giving place to children’s literature in Social Studies in the USA and Turkey has been described upon briefly. It has been observed that social studies instruction fields in the USA have highly affluent studies in regard to making use of children’s literature. The new Social Studies Curriculum put into practice in Turkey in 2005 have been found to be better than the old curriculum. However, according to practices carried out it has also been observed that the use of literature materials had limited contribution during class application and in the instruction books prepared for teacher candidates. It is noticed that the importance given to the subject isn’t still sufficient enough. Particularily, it was determined that the academic studies regarding the issue couldn’t proceed beyond offering general ideas to teachers due to the fact that they approached the issue totally with a benefit-advantage approach. 

Keywords

social studies, children’s literature, elemantary school

THE USE OF CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN SOCIAL STUDIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN THE USA AND TURKEY

Abstract

Bu çalışmada, Sosyal Bilgiler derslerinde çocuk edebiyatı ürünlerine yer vermenin önemine kısaca değinilerek önce, çağdaş dünyadaki örnekleri açısından ABD’deki durum betimlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Bu betimleme, ABD’de bulunan NCSS’nin yayınladığı dergilerdeki makaleler, her yıl öğrencilere önerilen “Notable Trade Books” listelerinin anlamı ve öğretmenler için yazılmış Sosyal Bilgiler öğretimi kitapları açısından yapılmıştır. Sonra bunlara paralel olarak Türkiye’de, 1998 ile 2005 Sosyal Bilgiler Öğretim Programları, öğretmen adayları için eğitim fakültelerinde yaygın olarak okutulan Sosyal Bilgiler öğretimi kitapları ve konuyla ilgili yapılmış akademik çalışmalar incelenmiştir. Bu verilerden yola çıkarak ABD ve Türkiye arasında bir karşılaştırma denemesi yapılmıştır. Sonuçta, ABD’deki sosyal bilgiler öğretim alanının çocuk edebiyatından yararlanma konusunda oldukça zengin çalışmalara sahip olduğu görülmüştür. Türkiye’de ise 2005 Sosyal Bilgiler Öğretimi Programı ile yaşanan gelişmeler umut verici bulunmuş ancak, gerek konuyla ilgili yapılan çalışmaların sınıflardaki uygulamaya yaptığı sınırlı katkı, gerekse öğretmen adayları için yazılmış kitaplarda konuya hâlâ yeterince önem verilememesi durumuna dikkat çekilmiştir. Özellikle konuyla ilgili akademik araştırmaların -birkaçı dışındakilerin- top yekûn fayda-yarar yaklaşımı ile bakması nedeni ile öğretmenlere genel fikirler vermekten ileri gidemediği belirlenmiştir.

Keywords

social studies, children’s literature, elemantary school

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