Evaluating the usage of the terms war and peace in middle school social studies courses from the perspectives of teachers

The main purpose of this research is to reveal social studies teachers' views related to the usage of the terms war and peace in their courses. The research was conducted in accordance with phenomonoligical pattern, a qualitative research method. The study group consisted of 15 teachers that worked in middle schools from Sakarya in 2014-2015 academic year. The semi-structured interview form, developed by the researcher, was used to collect data. The data obtained through the interview were evaluated via descriptive analysis. In the research, it was revealed that the teachers approached the concepts of war and peace, mostly from the sociological aspect. Social studies teachers think that the concepts of war and peace are used superficially in their teaching programs and books. They stated that while teaching war, mostly political events are emphasized and while teaching peace no events are emphasized. While teaching both subjects, influenced by their nationalist emotions, they act subjective. They also stated that while teaching the terms wars and peace, they mostly use discovery learning strategies but while doing so they have some difficulties because of international politics, the social environment and the problems arising from the events around the world. At the end of the research, it was concluded that it is neccessary to approach these terms from all dimensions and those should be taught to students through different methods. Keywords: War, Peace, Social Studies Teacher, Middle School Social Studies Course