Examination of primary school 3rd and 4th grade science textbooks in terms of values education

The research was conducted to examine MEB primary school 3rd and 4th grade science books in terms of values and to reveal to what extent the root values found were addressed. The research was carried out using document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods. The study is limited to the 3rd and 4th grade Science textbooks, which are accepted as textbooks for five years starting from the 2019-2020 academic year, with the decision No. 8 of the Ministry of Education and Discipline Board Presidency dated April 18, 2019. There are ten root values in the program; friendship, love, respect, patience, patriotism, helpfulness, justice, self-control and responsibility. 3rd Grade science textbooks prepared by Asağlı and 4th Grade science textbooks prepared by Yüksekyılmaz constitute the sample of the research. The books in question were examined by two researchers and one expert, taking into account ten root values and their sub-dimensions. The 3rd grade science textbook examined in terms of values consists of two hundred and sixteen pages, seven units, and there are a total of ninety-four root values in the book. The 4th grade science textbook consists of one hundred eighty-eight pages, seven units, and includes a total of one hundred and ninety-one root values. It has been determined that the distribution of root values varies according to units in existing books. In both 3rd and 4th grade science books, the values of responsibility are included the most and justice the least. The values in the 3rd grade science book are not directly found in the text. It can be determined by inference in semantic context. The most emphasized root values in the 3rd grade science textbook are responsibility (28%), self-control (17%), patriotism (12%) and helpfulness (12%), respectively. The most emphasized root values in the 4th grade science textbook are responsibility (24%), self-control (16%), patriotism (12%) and helpfulness (11%), respectively. The least emphasized root value in textbooks is justice (1%). Care should be taken to distribute the root values more evenly among the books. In particular, including a variety of values in each unit can help students explore a wide range of values. It is recommended that basic values, especially justice, respect and love, should be emphasized more and these values should be included more in textbooks.