The effect of the May 27, 1960 Coup and the memorial of March 12, 1971 in Turkey on secondary school social studies course

Education has been accepted as an indispensable element for the growth and development of individuals from past to present. Education starts first in the family and then continues in the school environment. Social Studies also forms a part of this education. Compared to other courses, Social Studies course can be given more importance by states due to reasons such as the adoption of cultural characteristics, material and spiritual values, and transferring citizenship awareness to the new generation. The social, economic, cultural, political and social changes and transformations that took place in the USA also affected the society and its structure. As a result of these changes, problems such as security problems, unplanned urbanization, migration and nationalism have emerged. This process has a large share in the emergence of Social Studies as a course. The Social Studies Committee, a committee in the field of education in the USA, accepted the teaching of Social Studies for the first time in 1916. Social Studies can be directly affected by important events both in the world and in Turkey. In this study, the effects of the 27 May 1960 Coup and the 12 March 1971 Memorandum on the secondary school Social Studies course in Turkey were investigated. These courses, which were taught as Civics, Geography and History in the 1948 Primary School Curriculum, were named Society and Country Studies with the 1962 Primary School Curriculum after the 27 May 1960 Coup. Subsequently, the name of the course was changed to Social Studies with the 1968 Primary School Program. Between 1971 and 1973, it started to be taught at the secondary school level. Social Studies course, which is important in raising citizenship awareness, has become important in primary and secondary school levels, especially as a result of the 1960 Coup and the 1971 Memorandum. Document analysis, one of the qualitative methods, was used in the research study. The sources used are as follows: Journal of Announcements, government programs, educational programs, decrees and directives and Education Councils. In addition, analyzes were made from theses, articles, magazines and books on this subject. Key Words: social studies, education, 27 May 1960 coup, 12 March 1971 memorandum, secondary school.