Teaching of fate belief in secondary schools' religious culture and moral knowledge courses: An investigation based on teachers' views

Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge courses aim to gain students a true perception of fate that they can make sense of the universe, life and their own existence. In this study, the teaching of fate belief in secondary schools' religious culture and moral knowledge courses curricula and textbooks and the thoughts of teachers, who teach at schools admitting students through exam, on this subject are examined. The study was structured according to the case study, which is a qualitative research design, and document analysis and interview techniques were used to collect the data. When the curricula and textbooks of Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge courses which are applied until today are examined, it has been determined that there has been a change from traditional to a more rational religious understanding in the teaching of fate belief. 30 religious culture and moral knowledge teachers participated in the study, the data were collected through a semi-structured interview form and descriptive analysis was carried out. The study group was formed according to criterion sampling, maximum variety and easy accessibility that are methods of purposive sampling. The results of the study show up the teachers think that the Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge courses is not very effective on the students' fate perceptions today. Also, it is seen that the media and the environmental factors such as the family, the peer groups, the school, the political and cultural environments are the most effective factors on students' fate perceptions and although they have some difficulties in understanding the fate, they show a high level of interest and curiosity about this subject. In this context, it is remarkable that the teachers are dissatisfied about removing the unit about fate belief from the curriculum after the 2018 update and the inadequacy of the textbooks and in the face of students' inquiries about fate. Also it is understood from the findings that some teachers have a low tendency to see themselves as competent in teaching of faith belief, and they have some difficulties in answering students' questions, especially on issues such as the confusions causing from the definition of fate, problem of evil and attributes of God.