Do Reading Texts in Science Textbooks Contribute to Values Education?

Abstract

Values education refers to a form of character education that comprehensively imparts various human values to students. It holds great significance to instill in students the values embraced by society through textbooks at the middle school level. Hence, this study aims to assess the extent to which reading texts (or reading passages) in science textbooks, aligned with the Turkish Science Curriculum implemented in 2018, address the ten root values adopted by the Ministry of National Education. The research employs the document analysis method, a qualitative research approach. Four science textbooks taught at the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade levels were analyzed within the study. The data were subjected to content analysis, and the findings reveal that the reading texts in the four science textbooks partially incorporate the ten root values. The results of this study demonstrated that despite being abstract course, science textbooks emphasize the majority of the ten root values, albeit not all of them extensively. This finding is a significant indication that the type and content of the course do not hinder to boost values education. At the end of the study, a few suggestions were made to ensure that the ten root values are acquired by students.

Keywords

• Values education
• science education
• science textbooks
• reading texts
• root values

Fen Bilimleri Ders Kitaplarındaki Okuma Metinleri Değerler Eğitimine Katkı Sağlar mı?

Abstract

Değerler eğitimi, öğrencilere çeşitli insani değerleri kapsamlı bir şekilde aktaran bir karakter eğitimi biçimini ifade eder. Ortaokul düzeyinde ders kitapları aracılığıyla öğrencilere toplum tarafından benimsenen değerlerin kazandırılması büyük önem taşımaktadır. Dolayısıyla bu çalışma, 2018 yılında uygulamaya konulan Fen Bilimleri Dersi Öğretim Programı ile uyumlu fen bilimleri ders kitaplarında yer alan okuma metinlerinin (veya okuma parçalarının) Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı tarafından benimsenen on kök değeri ne ölçüde ele aldığını değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Araştırmada nitel bir araştırma yaklaşımı olan doküman analizi yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında 5, 6, 7 ve 8. sınıf düzeyinde okutulan dört fen bilimleri ders kitabı analiz edilmiştir. Veriler içerik analizine tabi tutulmuş ve elde edilen bulgular, dört fen ders kitabındaki okuma metinlerinin on kök değeri kısmen içerdiğini ortaya koymuştur. Bu çalışmanın sonuçları, fen bilgisi ders kitaplarının soyut bir ders olmasına rağmen on kök değerin tamamına olmasa da büyük çoğunluğuna vurgu yaptığını göstermiştir. Bu sonuç, dersin türü ve içeriğinin değerler eğitimini vermede engel olmadığının önemli bir göstergesidir. Çalışmanın sonunda, on kök değerin öğrencilere kazandırılması için bazı önerilerde bulunulmuştur.

Keywords

• Değerler eğitimi
• fen eğitimi
• fen ders kitapları
• okuma metinleri
• kök değerler

Ethical Statement

Since the research presented here involves a document analysis of existing four science textbooks used in middle schools, it falls under the category of exempt research, and therefore, ethics committee approval was not required.

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