EXPLORING CITIZENSHIP AND CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN TÜRKİYE

Abstract

This study aims to explore classroom teachers' views on the concept of citizenship and citizenship education. In line with this purpose, teachers' views on citizenship, their interpretations of the concept of "active" citizenship, the aims of citizenship education, and their classroom practices related to citizenship education were investigated. The study employed an exploratory phenomenological approach, a qualitative research method. The results revealed that teachers conceptualized citizenship as the acquisition of national legal status and identity, rights and responsibilities, participation, and patriotism. It was concluded that teachers often emphasized the themes of "responsibility," "social sensitivity," "participation," and "collaboration" when defining the qualities that an active citizen should possess. In teachers' opinions about the aim of citizenship education, the categories "contributing to the political socialization of students, teaching rights and responsibilities, and contributing to the development of students' values and skills" were most emphasized. It was concluded that teachers mainly included citizenship education in social studies and life sciences courses and used "providing examples" and "direct narration." Teachers also reported school councils and class president elections as extracurricular activities.

Keywords: Citizenship, citizenship education, primary education.

Ethics and Conflict of Interest

This study was approved by Çukurova University, Social and Humanities Research Ethics Board, no 957032, on 14.03.2024. The author declares that they acted in accordance with ethical rules in all processes of the research. The author declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

REFERENCES

Akar, H., & Aschenberger, F. K. (2016). Students’ civic knowledge and perceptions of civic concepts in a private school: a comparative international perspective. International Journal of Curriculum and Instructional Studies, 6(12), 115‑132.

Akhtar, S. (2010). The understanding, perspectives, and attitudes of Scottish primary school teachers towards education for citizenship (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The University of Strathclyde.

Arslan, K. (2022). Velilerin bakış açılarına göre vatandaşlık eğitimi [Citizenship education according to parents' views] (Unpublished master thesis). Sakarya University.

Brod, M., Tesler, L. E., & Christensen, T. L. (2009). Qualitative research and content validity: Developing best practices based on science and experience. Quality of Life Research, 18, 1263–1278.

Bakioglu, A., & Kurt, T. (2009). Öğretmenlerin demokrasi, vatandaşlık ve vatanseverlik algılarının nitel olarak incelenmesi [A qualitative analysis of teachers’ perceptions of democracy citizenship and patriotism]. Marmara University Atatürk Education Faculty Journal of Educational Sciences, 29(29), 19-39.

Baralt, M. (2011). Coding qualitative data. Research methods in second language acquisition: A practical guide, 222–244.

Bıçak, İ., & Ereş, F. (2018). Öğretmenlerin vatandaşlık eğitimi ve vatandaşlık eğitimi sürecine yönelik görüşleri [Teachers’ views concerning citizenship education and the citizenship education process]. The Journal of Turkish Educational Sciences, 16(2), 257–279.

Boadu, K. (2013). Teachers’ perception of the importance of teaching citizenship education to primary school children in Cape Coast, Ghana. Journal of Arts and Humanities, 2(2), 137-147.

Brenner, M. (2006). Interviewing in educational research. In: J. L. Green, G. Camilli, G. & P. B. Elmore (Eds.), Handbook of complementary methods in education research (p. 357–370). Washington, DC: Routledge.

Ceylan, A., & Bozkurt, E. (2023). Examining the good citizenshıp percepiıons of prospective primary school teachers. International Journal of Education, Technology and Science, 3(4), 1323–1347.

Chin, K., & Barber, C. E. (2010). A multi-dimensional exploration of teachers' beliefs about civic education in Australia, England, and the United States. Theory & Research in Social Education, 38(3), 395–427.

Cleovoulou, Y. (2021). 21st century pedagogies and citizenship education: Enacting elementary school curriculum using critical ınquiry-based learning. Spain: Universidad de Salamanca. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96998

Çelik, H. (2009). Sosyal bilgiler öğretmenlerinin vatandaşlık eğitiminin bugünkü durumu ve geleceğine ilişkin görüşleri [Views of social studies teachers related to the present circumstance and future of citizenship education] (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Marmara University.

Çetiner, A. (2023). Sosyal bilgiler ve sınıf öğretmenlerinin vatandaşlık eğilimleri ve sınıf içi uygulamalara ilişkin görüşleri [Social studies and classroom teachers' tendencies and views on classroom practices] (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Necmettin Erbakan University.

Çetiner, A., & Şimşir, M. (2024). The views of classroom teachers with the title of head teacher on citizenship education. Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Language, 4(1), 47–64.

Çolak, K., Kabapınar, Y., & Öztürk, C. (2019). Sosyal bilgiler derslerini veren öğretmenlerin küresel vatandaşlığa ve küresel vatandaşlık eğitimine bakışları [Social studies courses teachers' views on global citizenship and global citizenship education]. Education and Science, 44(197), 335-352. https://doi.org/10.15390/EB.2019.7721

Davis, L. L. (1992). Instrument review: Getting the most from a panel of experts. Applied Nursing Research, 5(4), 194–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0897-1897(05)80008-4

De Schaepmeester, L., van Braak, J., & Aesaert, K. (2022). Teach what you preach? The relationship between teachers’ citizenship beliefs and citizenship education in the classroom. The Journal of Social Studies Research, 46(4), 363‑378.

Değirmenci, Y., & Eskici, B. (2019). Öğretmen adaylarının etkin vatandaşlık algılarının incelenmesi [Examination of prospective teachers’ perceptions of active citizenship]. OPUS International Journal of Society Researches, 11(18), 232-256. https://doi.org/10.26466/opus.537074

Dijkstra, A. B., Geijsel, F., Ledoux, G., van der Veen, I., & ten Dam, G. (2015). Effects of school quality, school citizenship policy, and student body composition on the acquisition of citizenship competences in the final year of primary education. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 26(4), 524–553. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2014.969282

Doğanay, A. (2009). Öğretmen adaylarının vatandaşlık algısının ve eylemlerinin siyasal toplumsallaşma bağlamında değerlendirilmesi [in Turkish]. I. Uluslararası Avrupa Birliği, Demokrasi, Vatandaşlık ve Vatandaşlık Eğitimi Sempozyumu Bildirileri [Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on the European Union, Democracy, Citizenship and Citizenship Education] (p. 2844).

Dusi, P., Steinbach, M., & Messetti, G. (2012). Citizenship education in a multicultural society. Teachers’ practices. Procedia – Social and Behavioural Sciences, 69, 1410–1419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.12.080

Egüz, Ş., & Kafadar, T. (2020). Active citizenship from the perspective of pre-service social studies teachers. Elementary Education Online, 19(2), 565-579. https://doi.org/10.17051/ilkonline.2020.690003

Ereş, F. (2015). Vatandaşlık eğitimi ve karakter eğitimi politikalarının değerlendirilmesine yönelik nitel bir çalışma [A qualitative study on the evaluation of citizenship education and character education policy]. Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Journal of Education Faculty, 1(36), 120–136.

Ersoy, A. F. (2007). Sosyal bilgiler dersinde öğretmenlerin etkili vatandaşlık eğitimi uygulamalarına ilişkin görüşleri [The opinions of teacher regarding the practices of effective citizenship education in social studies course(Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Anadolu University.

Eryılmaz, Ö., Bursa, S., & Ersoy, A. F. (2018). Sosyal bilgiler öğretmenleri ve öğrencilerinin etkin vatandaşlık ile sivil toplum kuruluşu algıları [Social studies teachers' and students' perceptions of active citizenship and non-governmental organisations]. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 10(2), 258-276. https://doi.org/10.15345/iojes.2018.02.018

Estellés, M., Amo, F. J., & Romero, J. (2021). There is a consensus on the purposes of citizenship education in teacher education. Social Sciences, 10(5), 164. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10050164

Eurydice (2017) “Citizenship education at school in Europe”, http:// www.eurydice.org Date of downloading: 05.10.2024.

Evagorou, M., Vrikki, M., & Papanastasiou, E. (2023). Students’ and teachers’ voices on the outcomes of a citizenship education curriculum. Citizenship, Social and Economics Education, 22(2), 100–117.

Evans, M., Ingram, L., Macdonald, A., & Weber, N. (2009). Mapping the ‘global dimension’ of citizenship education in Canada: The complex interplay of theory, practice and context. Citizenship, Teaching and Learning, 5(2), 17–34.

Fives, H., & Buehl, M. M. (2014). Exploring differences in practicing teachers’ valuing of pedagogical knowledge based on teaching ability beliefs. Journal of Teacher Education, 65(5), 435-448.

Fuentes-Moreno, C., Sabariego-Puig, M., & Ambrós-Pallarés, A. (2020). Developing social and civic competence in secondary education through the implementation and evaluation of teaching units and educational environments. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 7. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-0530-4

Gürkan, B., & Doğanay, A. (2020). Factors affecting citizenship education according to perceptions and experiences of secondary-school teachers. Turkish Journal of Education, 9(2), 106–133.

Güven, S., Tertemiz, N., & Bulut, P. (2009). Vatandaşlık ve vatandaşlık eğitimine yönelik sınıf öğretmenlerinin görüşleri [Views of class teachers on citizenship and citizenship education]. Black Sea Journal of Socıal Scıences, 1(1), 149–170.

Hoskins, B. L., Janmaat, J. G., & Villalba, E. (2012). Learning citizenship through social participation outside and inside school: An international, multilevel study of young people’s learning of citizenship. British Educational Research Journal, 38(3), 419–446. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411926.2010.550271

Jang, H. Y., Yang, J. E., & Shin, Y. S. (2022). A phenomenological study of nurses’ experience in caring for COVID-19 patients. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(5), 2924.

Jara Ibarra, C., Sánchez Bachmann, M., Cox, C., & Miranda, D. (2023). The meaning of citizenship: Identifying the beliefs of teachers responsible for citizenship education in Chile. Theory & Research in Social Education, 51(3), 464–485.

Jerome, L. (2012). England's citizenship education experiment. England's Citizenship Education Experiment, 1–208.

Kadıoğlu, A., Keyman, F., & Çakmaklı, D. (2016). Vatandaşlık araştırması bulgular raporu [in Turkish]. İstanbul: Konda.

Kayacan, G. (Haz.) (2014). “Biz” kimiz? Ders kitaplarında kimlik, yurttaşlık, haklar [in Turkish]. İstanbul: Tarih Vakfı Publications.

Keyman F (2008). Aydınlanma, Türkiye ve vatandaşlık [in Turkish]. İstanbul: Osmanlı Bankası Arşiv ve Araştırma Merkezi.

Keyman, E. F., & İçduygu, A. (1998). Türk modernleşmesi ve ulusal kimlik sorunu: Anayasal vatandaşlık ve demokratik açılım olasılığı [in Turkish]. A. Ünsal (ed.), 75, 169–180.

Kilci, Z. (2019). Sosyal bilgiler öğretmenlerinin dijital vatandaşlığa yönelik görüşleri ve uygulamaları [Social studies teachers' digital citizenship opinions and applications] (Unpublished master thesis). Anadolu University.

Knowles, R. T., Torney-Purta, J., & Barber, C. (2018). Enhancing citizenship learning with international comparative research: Analyses of IEA civic education datasets. Citizenship Teaching & Learning, 13(1), 7-30.

Koh, C., Liu, W., Chye, E., & Divaharan, S. (2013). Student teachers' views on national education: the need for greater alignment between policy and praxis, Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 33(4), 424–443, https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2013.810142  

Koutselini, M. (2008). Citizenship education in context: Student teacher perceptions of citizenship in Cyprus. Intercultural Education, 19, 163–175. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675980801889690

Kuş, Z., & Aksu, A. (2017). Vatandaşlık ve vatandaşlık eğitimi hakkında sosyal bilgiler öğretmenlerinin inançları [Social studies teachers’ beliefs on citizenship and citizenship education]. International Journal of Turkish Education Sciences, 2017(8), 18–41.

Kwan-Choi Tse, T. (2000). Deformed citizenship: A critique of the junior secondary economic and public affairs syllabus and textbooks in Hong Kong. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 8(1), 93–110.

Lee, W. O., & Fouts, J. T. (2005). Education for social citizenship: Perceptions of teachers in the USA, Australia, England, Russia, and China (Vol. 1). Hong Kong University Press.

Leenders, H., & Veugelers, W. (2006). Different perspectives on values and citizenship education. Curriculum and Teaching, 21(2), 5–20.

Leenders, H., Veugelers, W., & De Kat, E. (2008). Teachers' views on citizenship education in secondary education in the Netherlands. Cambridge Journal of Education, 38(2), 155–170.

Lin, A. (2015). Citizenship education in American schools and its role in developing civic engagement: a review of the research. Educational Review, 67, 35, 63. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2013.813440

Malkoç, S., & Ata, B. (2021). Sosyal bilgiler öğretmenlerinin vatandaşlık tiplerinin belirlenmesi [Determination of the citizenship types of social studies teachers]. Ankara University Journal of Faculty of Educational Sciences (JFES), 54(2), 459–496. https://doi.org/10.30964/auebfd.897458 

Margot, K. C., & Kettler, T. (2019). Teachers’ perception of STEM integration and education: a systematic literature review. International Journal of STEM Education, 6(1), 1–16.

Marovah, T. (2019). Citizenship formation through curriculum and pedagogical practices: Evidence from two Zimbabwean teachers’ colleges. South African Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v39ns2a1411

Martínez-Rodríguez, R., Muñoz-Labraña, C., & Sánchez-Agustí, M. (2019). What does it mean to be a citizen? A comparative study of teachers' conceptions in Spain and Chile. Education as Change, 23(1), 1–24.

Mayring, P. (2014). Qualitative content analysis: theoretical foundation, basic procedures, and software solution. Klagenfurt. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-395173

Merriam, B. (2013). Nitel araştırma türleri [Six common qualitative research designs] (Trans. F. K. Canbaz & M. Öz). in S. Turan (Ed.), Nitel araştırma desen ve uygulama için bir rehber [in Turkish] (p. 21–37) Ankara: Nobel Academic Publishing.

Merriam, S. B., & Grenier, R. S. (Eds.). (2019). Qualitative research in practice: Examples for discussion and analysis. John Wiley & Sons.

Mhlauli, M. B. (2012). The paradox of teaching citizenship education in Botswana primary schools. European Journal of Educational Research, 1(2), 85–105.

Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldana, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (3^rd Ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Neubauer, B. E., Witkop, C. T., & Varpio, L. (2019). How phenomenology can help us learn from others' experiences. Perspectives on Medical Education, 8, 90–97.

Obiagu, A. (2024). Being a good citizen in a postcolonial context: Justice-oriented citizenship implications of Nigerian teachers’ civic education ideologies. Theory & Research in Social Education, 52, 273‑311. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2024.2305463

Ontas, T., & Koc, E. S. (2020). Primary school teacher candidates' views of citizenship and ıdeal citizenship. International Journal of Educational Methodology, 6(2), 455-470.

Önal, G., Öztürk, C., & Kenan, S. (2018). Teachers' perspectives on citizenship education in England. Education & Science, 43(196), 243-256. https://doi.org/10.15390/EB.2018.7060 

Özbek, R., & Köksalan, B. (2015). Evaluation of pre-service teachers’opinions concerning the objectives of the citizenship education. Electronic Journal of Social Sciences, 14(54), 129-140. https://doi.org/10.17755/esosder.91761

Parker, W. C. (2003). Teaching democracy: Unity and diversity in public life. Teachers College Press.

Parker, W. C. (2008). Knowing and doing in democratic citizenship education. Handbook of research in social studies education, p. 65–80.

Pederson, P. V. & Cogan, J. J. (2003). Civic education pedagogy and assessment in the pacific rim: Six cases. International Journal of Social Education, 17(1), 16–30.

Pike, M. A. (2007). The state and citizenship education in England: A curriculum for subjects or citizens? Journal of Curriculum Studies, 39(4), 471-489

Polat, S., Özgül, İ., & Bayram, H. (2023). How should citizenship education be given?: A study based on the opinions of social studies teachers. International Journal of Assessment Tools in Education, 10(1), 98–113.

Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2006). Essentials of nursing research: Methods, appraisal, and utilization (6^th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2008). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Rubio D., Berg Weger M., Tebb S., Lee E., Rauch S. (2003). Objectifying content validity: Conducting a content validity study in social work research. Social Work Research, 27, 94–104.

Sampermans, D., Reichert, F., & Claes, E. (2021). Teachers’ concepts of good citizenship and associations with their teaching styles. Cambridge Journal of Education, 51(4), 433–450.

Schreier, M. (2012). Qualitative content analysis in practice. Sage Publications.

Schugurensky, D. (2010). Citizenship learning for and through participatory democracy. in Learning citizenship by practicing democracy: International initiatives and perspectives, 1-19. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Schwartz-Shea, P., & Yanow, D. (2013). Interpretive research design: Concepts and processes. Routledge.

Sen, A. (2022). Three evils of citizenship education in Turkey: Ethno-religious nationalism, statism, and neoliberalism. Critical Studies in Education, 63(3), 307–322.

Sen, K. (2023). Citizenship education under authoritarian Islamic nationalism: an exploration of teachers’ conceptions of citizenship in Turkey. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 55(2), 171–186.

Shah, R., Brett, P., & Thomas, D. (2020). Visualizing civic values: Representations of idealized citizenship behaviours in images found in Nepalese social studies textbooks. Citizenship Teaching & Learning, 15(1), 79–99.

Shrotryia, V. K., & Dhanda, U. (2019). Content validity of the assessment instrument for employee engagement. Sage Open, 9(1), 2158244018821751.

Sim, J. B. Y. (2008). What does citizenship mean? Social studies teachers' understandings of citizenship in Singapore schools. Educational Review, 60(3), 253–266.

Smith, B., Neoh, J., McDowall, A., & Kim, E. (2024). Preparing teachers for critical global and democratic practice: shifting inquiries into the teaching of democracy and global citizenship in teacher education. Curriculum Perspectives, 44, 525–536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-024-00235-0

Sunal, C. S., & Haas, M. E. (2011). How do students develop citizenship in democratic and global societies? Social Studies for The Elementary and Middle Grades (A Constructivist Approach), 133–172.

Şentürk, M., Şimşek, U., Tıkman, F., & Yıldırım, E. (2017). Sosyal bilgiler ve sınıf eğitimi öğretmen adaylarının gözünden vatandaşlık eğitimi: Nitel bir çalışma [The views of pre-service social studies teachers and pre-service classroom teachers about citizenship education: A qualitative study]. Dicle University Journal of Ziya Gökalp Faculty of Education, (32), 913–925. https://doi.org/10.14582/DUZGEF.1871

Şimşek, A., & Karaduman, E. (2023). Türkiye’de vatandaşlık eğitiminin yönü (II. Meşrutiyet döneminden günümüze 2022) [The direction of citizenship education in Turkey (From the period of II. constitutionalism to the present 2022). Selçuk University Journal of Studies in Turcolog, (Special Issue), 75–108. https://doi.org/10.21563/sutad.1378237

Tangül, H., & Soykan, E. (2021). Comparison of students’ and teachers’ opinions toward digital citizenship education. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 752059.

Teherani, A., Martimianakis, T., Stenfors-Hayes, T., Wadhwa, A., & Varpio, L. (2015). Choosing a qualitative research approach. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 7(4), 669–670.

Thornton, S. J. (2008). Continuity and change in social studies curriculum. Handbook of Research İn Social Studies Education, 15–32.

Tomé, V., Sikharulidze, M., Lobzhanidze, S., & Urchukhishvili, G. (2024). Digital Citizenship Education: Perceptions on the concept, self-reported competences, and practices of Georgian school society.

Uğurlu, C. T. (2011). Avrupa Birliği ülkelerinde ve Türkiye'de vatandaşlık eğitimi [Citizenship Education in European Union Countries and Turkey]. Electronic Journal of Social Sciences, 10(37), 153–169.

Ulger, M. (2013). İnsan hakları ve vatandaşlık eğitimi ara disiplin alanı uygulamasının sosyal bilgiler öğretmenlerinin görüşleri bağlamında değerlendirilmesi [Evaluation of ımplementation of human rights and citizenship ınterdiscipline domain in the context of social studies teachers’ opinions]. Turkish Journal of Education, 2(3), 14–29. https://doi.org/10.19128/turje.181061

Üner, S. S., & Yeşil, R. (2014). The examination of the views of primary school teachers and preservice primary teachers on European Union citizenship from the point of different variables: A qualitative study. Participatory Educational Research, 1(2), 68–82.

Veugelers, W. (2007). Creating critical‐democratic citizenship education: empowering humanity and democracy in Dutch education. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 37(1), 105–119.

Veugelers, W. (2011). Theory and practice of citizenship education: The case of policy, science and education in the Netherlands. Revista de Educacion, (1), 209-224.

Walkington, H., & Wilkins, C. (2000). Education for critical citizenship: the impact of teachers' world-view on classroom practice in the teaching of values. School Field, 11(1), 59–78.

Weinberg, J., & Flinders, M. (2018). Learning for democracy: The politics and practice of citizenship education. British Educational Research Journal, 44(4), 573-592. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3446

Westheimer, J., & Kahne, J. (2004). What kind of citizen? The politics of educating for democracy. American Educational Research Journal, 41(2), 237–269.

Westheimer, J., & Ladson-Billings, G. (2024). What kind of citizen?: Educating our children for the common good. Teachers College Press.

Willemse, T. M., ten Dam, G., Geijsel, F., van Wessum, L., & Volman, M. (2015). Fostering teachers’ professional development for citizenship education. Teacher and Teaching Education, 49, 118–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.03.008  

Wong, K. L., Lee, C. K. J., Chan, K. S. J., & Kennedy, K. J. (2017). The model of teachers’ perceptions of ‘Good Citizens’: Aligning with the changing conceptions of ‘Good Citizens’. Citizenship Teaching & Learning, 12(1), 43–66.

Yıldırım, A., & Şimşek, H. (2011). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri [Qualitative research methods in social sciences] (8^th edition)  Ankara: Seçkin Publishing.

Zaman, H. (2006). Teachers' perceptions of citizenship and citizenship education: A comparative study (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Pittsburgh.