The effect of teachers' educational philosophy and lifelong learning tendencies on their curriculum fidelity levels

The main purpose of this study is to determine the effects of teachers who work in primary and secondary schools educational philosophy and lifelong learning tendencies on their curriculum fidelity levels. Data is collected from 281 teachers who work in Karesi and Altıeylül districts in Balıkesir in the 2021-2022 academic year. The data needed in the research are obtained through 'Educational Philosophy Tendencies Scale' developed by Uyangor et al. (2016); 'Lifelong Learning Tendencies Scale' developed by Diker Coşkun (2009) and 'Curriculum Fidelity Scale' developed by Burul (2018) in accordance with the screening model in quantitive research methods. Descriptive statistics, Two- Way MANOVA, Pearson Correlation Analysis and Stepwise Regression Analysis are used in the analysis of the data. According to results, firstly, it is determined that teachers tend to be more inclined to contemporary education philosophy in general. In addition, it is observed that there are moderate lifelong learning tendencies and high degree of fidelity to the curriculum. For the second finding, it is determined that teachers' educational philosophy tendencies, lifelong learning tendencies and their levels of fidelity to the curriculum made a significant difference in terms of school type, field and occupational seniority variables. In this context, it is determined that newly graduated teachers working in the field of Social Sciences have more contemporary educational philosophy tendencies than other seniority and fields. In addition, it is determined that the lifelong learning tendency of teachers working in primary and secondary schools make a significant different in terms of occupational seniority in various sub-dimensions. At the teachers' curriculum fidelity level results are obtained in favor of teachers with high occupational seniority in various sub-dimensions. A third finding from the study indicated that, there is a low level and meaningful relationship between teachers' educational philosophy tendencies, lifelong learning tendencies and their curriculum fidelity levels. Final finding, it is determined that teachers' educational philosophy and lifelong learning tendencies are significant predictors of their curriculum fidelity levels. Keywords: Educational Philosophy, Lifelong Learning, Curriculum Fidelity