A comperative study of the teacher's ideas abut the primary school curriculum which started to be implemented in the 2005-2006 academic year in terms of different variables

The new curriculum that was designed for the primary education and enacted inthe 2005-2006 school year embodies innovations from various perspectives compared tothe previous one. The new curriculum is thought to follow the constructivist approach;to capitalize on multiple intelligences theory and to give precedence to learner-centeredactivities. However, the new curriculum which differs from the previous one in manyrespects brings about some problems. This can be attributed to the fact that it is difficultto get rid of the traditional and habitual practices.All in all, it is necessary to assess and develop the new curriculum. That?s why;this study is aimed at evaluating the new curriculum in terms of teachers? opinions andprovides feedback for curriculum designers and practitioners.This research was carried out on the primary teachers teaching in the schools ofthe Izmir City. The data were obtained by means of a scale designed to find out theviews of the teachers as to the evaluation of the new curriculum. The analysis of the datarevealed the following:When the positive and negative opinions related to the new curriculum are takeninto consideration, it can be stated that the positive and negative views on the newcurriculum are higher in the female teachers than in the male ones. The study alsorevealed that the anxieties of the female teachers towards the application of the newcurriculum are higher than those of the male teachers.There is no significant difference between the opinions of the participants withrespect to the schools they graduated from. As a result, it can be stated that the views ofthe teachers are identical irrespective of the schools they finished.As for the shortcomings of the new curriculum, new teachers consider the newprogram to be more negative when compared to the more experienced teachers, whichindicates a significant difference.As for the negative aspects of the new curriculum, there is a significantdifference between the teachers working in state schools and private institutions. Thoseworking in state schools find the new curriculum more problematic. This can beattributed to the inadequacy of the physical conditions in the state schools, to the effectsof the traditional practices and to the familiarity of the private institutions with the newcurriculum.