Analyzing elementary education textbooks in terms of six basic values of character education

One of the resources that teachers and students use most in teaching-learning environments is textbooks. The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent The Six Pillars of Character are included in textbooks. Qualitative methodology was used in this research and the data were gathered by document analysis method. Textbooks used in public primary schools in Ankara in the 2021-2022 academic year were used as data collection tools. Considering that character education should be included at a sufficient level in every grade and every lesson, the textbooks of the basic courses in the first, second, third and fourth grades were examined. In first grade; Life Sciences, Turkish, Mathematics, second grade; Life Sciences, Turkish, Mathematics, third grade; Life Sciences, Turkish, Mathematics, Science and fourth grade Turkish, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies textbooks were examined. Textbooks at different grade levels were analyzed to find the similarities and differences in primary school textbooks in terms of covering values according to grade levels. The textbooks were examined according to the classification of The Six Pillars of Character. The six basic values are Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. The reason for choosing this classification is that the values in the Ministry of National Education (MEB) curricula are similar to the Six Pillars of Character. As a result of the research, it was determined to what extent character education was included in the textbooks. According to the findings, it was concluded that The Six Pillars of Character were either not included in the primary school textbooks, except for the Responsibility and Citizenship values in the third grade Life Sciences textbook, or the values were not included at a sufficient level for a qualified character education.