The investigation of secondary school Turkish curriculum according to teachers' views

The aim of this research, which has been carried out with a mixed method based on a descriptive survey model, was to investigate the views of secondary school Turkish teachers for concerning the different aspects of the education programs. For the purpose of ascertaining the quantitative sample of the research, in the 2012-2013 academic year the primary schools in the provincial town of Aydın were categorised in accordance with their social-economic levels (low, average, high) and 30 of these public and private schools were selected thorugh disproportional grouping method. The population of the research composed of 98 6-8 Turkish Language teachers working in these thirty schools constitute the quantitative sample of the research. For this sample, a survey made up of five sections developed by the researcher was applied. The first section is personal information and in the second section there are 31 questions containing statements pertaining to the objectives and achievements (listening/following, speaking, reading, writing and grammar) of the Curriculum for Turkish Lessons. In the third section there are 14 questions regarding theme/content of the programme. In the fourth section there are 46 questions regarding teaching conditions (listening, speaking, reading and writing). And in the fifth section there are 16 questions concerning measurement and assessment. In addition, for the purpose of obtaining in-depth data regarding these aspects of the programme, an interview form prepared in parallel to thesurvey by the researcher with 12 teachers selected on a voluntary basis from among those who had already completedthe survey was applied. The structured and non-structured interview form developed by the researcher comprises four sections. Interview form; in the first section there are eight questions pertaining to personal information. The second section comprises seven questions pertaining to the teaching profession. In the third section there are eight questions concerning the Turkish teaching programme and the lesson plans. In the fourth section there are 6 open ended questions aimed at the Curriculum for Turkish lessons. In the analysis of the quantitative data acquired in the researchregarding the teachers' views pertaining to the types ofbenefits, themes, teaching situations and scaling and assessment in the Turkish teaching program, of the statistical techniques, percentage frequency, arithmetic average and standard deviation were used; the paired sample t-test was applied when analysing whether there was a meaningful difference between the Turkish teaching program and the teachers' views concerning the fulfilment level. The quantitative data of the research was obtained by the content analysis method. According to the results, the teachers stated that in their opinions the benefits, themes and content, teaching methods and techniques in the Turkish teaching program are at a "Very Significant" level and that scaling and assessment types should be on a general basis. The teachers are of the opinion that the benefits, theme and content, teaching methods and techniques are generally fulfilled and that the scaling and assessment types are generally utilised. It has been determined that there is a significant difference between the teachers' views on the importance of the benefits, theme and content of the teaching methods and techniques as well as scaling and assessment factors in the Turkish lesson teaching program and the realisation level of the factors. In accordance with this result, it can be said that the teachers are of the opinion that the benefits, theme and content, teaching methods and techniques as well as scaling and assessment factors in the Turkish lesson teaching program are important but the realisation of these factors is not at a satisfactory level. In the results of the research, it was also established that the teachers had experienced various problems while implementing the programme. These were determined as being the teachers having insufficient information regarding the new aspects of the programme, the differences between the student levels, insufficiencies in the content of the students' text books and work books and the insufficiencies in the teaching materials and lesson equipment in the classrooms. It was stated that in general the problems relating to the implementation of the programme arose from the students and that with the organisation of in-service educational seminars the teachers would be able to make up their lack of knowledge on this subject. KEYWORDS: Turkish Curriculum, Curriculum Evaluation, Constuructivism, Teachers' views, Secondary School