The evaluation of the elective courses in elementary schools according to the opinions of the teachers

This research is carried out in order to evaluate the elective courses in elementary schools according to the opinions of the teachers. It is a descriptive study done within the technique of general survey model. According to the objectives of the research, teachers' opinions related to elective courses were examined. Research was carried out in the elementary schools in Istanbul-Umraniye district. In these elementary schools, certain number of school were chosen randomly and a sample group was created. The research was done to the elementary school teachers giving elective courses. In this study, a questionnaire named "Ortaokul Seçmeli Derslerinin Öğretmen Görüşleri Doğrultusunda Değerlendirilmesi Araştırması Öğretmen Anketi" was used in order to evaluate the opinions of the teachers. As a result of the research, it has been found that there are problems in the elective courses and they are not conducted efficiently. The main causes of these problems are similar between the state and private schools, which are inadequate tools / equipment / space at schools, out of date elective course curriculum. It has been found that the teachers have instructed the elective courses irrelevant to their graduation branches, they want to decide on which elective courses they will instruct and they need the in-service training activities for the elective courses. It has been found that the pupils and their parents are not informed enough which leads to another problem for the elective courses. The criteria that has been considered mostly related to the selection of the elective courses are the pupils' requests, the wishes of the parents and the facilities of the school. Key words: Elective courses, elementary school, teachers' opinion, evaluation.