An evaluation of the secondary scoll 5(th)grade scoial studies curriculum according to (Bolu case study)teachers' views

Developing new curriculums in order to adapt to the continuous transformation and the needs of modern era, improving existing curriculums and reorganizing the achievements accordingly ultimately improves the quality of education. Rapid progress in science and technology in this century entail that these changes be reflected to education programs. With the new education system called '4+4+4' which was first implemented in Turkey during the 2012-2013 school year, the previously elementary school grade 5 is now a part of middle school.There were also some changes to the curriculum of the 5th grade Social Studies class. The effectiveness, in practice, of the learning approach of the Social Studies curriculum in this new system should be questioned. This new system is to be implemented by teachers. Implementation of this system in the framework of scientific researches shall increase its effectiveness.Furthermore, the problems encountered during the implementation stage of the social studies curriculum in the new system is rather significant in terms of exhibiting how involved social studies teachers are with the new system. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the curriculum of the middle school 5th grade social studies class acording to the viewsof the social studies teachers.For this purpose, documental analysis method was used fort he conceptual framework in this research, which is a qualitative study. The views of 40 social studies teachers in the Province of Bolu were gathered through a semi-structured interview form. The study concluded that the teachers generally considered the curriculum to be intensive. They noted that the contents and returns of the curriculum were comprehensive and adequate. They also said that they didn't encounter any major problems during the assesssment and evaluation phase. However, they emphasized that they thought that same topics were too difficult and abstract for 5th graders to comprehend as they were only learning concrete operations.They added that teachers should explain the topics in a more concrete or lifelike way for the 5th grade students to understand. Keywords: Social Studies, Curriculum, Evaluation of the Curriculum, Development of Curriculum