@article{article_560184, title={Environmental Topics and Environmental Ethics in Primary School Humanities and Social Sciences Education during the Late Ottoman Period (1913-1918)}, journal={International Electronic Journal of Environmental Education}, volume={9}, pages={120–141}, year={2019}, author={Alabaş, Ramazan}, keywords={history of environmental education,environmental ethics,history of education,curriculum,textbook}, abstract={<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6pt;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6pt;margin-left:0cm;text-align:justify;"> <span lang="en-us" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;" xml:lang="en-us">Environmental education has been given in
various primary school courses in Turkey,
predominantly in Life Sciences, Social Sciences, and Science and Technology courses. This study, while focusing
on the relationship between environment and child education, aims to decipher
the roots of environmental education in Turkey. In order to accomplish this task
at hand, the article focuses on the early 20 <sup>th </sup> century, in the late
Ottoman period, and investigates the topics on environment and environmental
ethics in the civics course <i>Lectures on Morality </i> [Musâhabât-ı Ahlâkiye] by analyzing the
course curriculum and textbooks. The documents of this research are the primary
school curriculum of 1913 and 1914 prepared by the Ministry of Education, and
the five textbooks of <i>Lectures on
Morality </i>. This study is structured with document analysis technique based
on quantitative research model. The data gathered from documents were evaluated
with content analysis and interpreted accordingly. The article concludes that the
education system in the Ottoman Empire of the early 20 <sup>th </sup> century
played a crucial role in the development of the idea of ‘conserving the
environment’ and the curriculum and the textbooks of the Lectures of Morality
course include for environmental topics. These topics are divided into four
main categories in the textbooks of <i>Lectures
on Morality: </i> the existence of different livelihoods
in the environment and protection of species, raising environmental awareness, utilizing
nature and loving animals. The research found out that the environment as a
concept has been understood or perceived with a focus on knowing and protecting
the environment. Furthermore, the research noticed that even though the
textbook’s view on environmental education fits mainly to an anthropocentric
ethics perspective, traces of biocentric and ecocentric ethics perspectives are
also evident. That said, a theocentric ethics perspective, which values and
pays attention to all species as creations of God, has stood out. The conclusion
of the article shows that in the early 20 <sup>th </sup> century, primary school
education paid attention and made efforts on environmental literacy and
environmental awareness, and <i>Lectures on
Morality </i> has made a contribution to
the foundation of environmental education in Turkey. </span> </p> <p> </p>}, number={2}, publisher={Sibel ÖZSOY}