Primary school teachers' views on human rights, citizenship and democracy course

The main subjects of the education system are human rights, citizenship and democracy course; it is a course that contributes to the adoption of the principles of universal human rights, the communication features of democracy and their knowledge of their rights and responsibilities as a citizen, and the development of their ability to apply and take action with this awareness they encounter in their lives. Within the scope of this course, it is aimed to enable students to act fairly and equally, resolve conflicts through consensus and without resorting to violence, and cultivate a culture of coexistence.The purpose of this study is to examine the Human Rights, Citizenship, and Democracy course from the perspective of primary school teachers. In this context, the study explores teachers' views on the effectiveness of the course, their knowledge of international human rights conventions, their self-evaluated competence in delivering the course, their opinions on course hours and its applicability at other educational levels, the adequacy of learning outcomes in achieving the course's objectives, their evaluations of course content, the problems encountered in practice, and their proposed solutions. In the study, content analysis method was applied on the data obtained using the interview method. The study group consisted of 30 primary school teachers who had previously taught the course to 4th-grade students in schools with varying socioeconomic backgrounds, located in three central districts of Van province during the summer term of the 2024–2025 academic year. A semi-structured interview form with nine open-ended questions was used as the data collection tool. This form was developed based on a literature review, with input from two academics and three primary school teachers. To develop this form, a literature review was conducted, the opinions of two academics and three primary school teachers were obtained, and the program and scope of the fourth-grade human rights, citizenship and democracy course were reviewed and addressed in all its dimensions Then, a data collection tool consisting of nine questions was created; the obtained data was analyzed and inferences were made. The data obtained from these interviews were analyzed using the content analysis method and described around the determined codes. In addition, the opinions of the experts on the course book were compared with the content of the textbook and a document analysis was conducted to see the harmony between the opinions of the teachers and the curriculum. Considering the basic results of the research, teachers found the course effective and important, and they considered the necessity of including it in other teaching levels and concretizing its conceptual dimensions.