About patriotism and patriotism education in social studies course of social studies teachers' opinions

The aim of this research is to determine perceptions and views of social studies teachers about patriotism education in social studies lessons and patriotism In the research, the basic qualitative research was used among the qualitative research approaches. The research was conducted in 2015-2016 education term, with the participation of 20 social studies teachers serving at the central district of Kütahya province. While determining the teachers who is participants of the research, maximum variation sampling were used among purposeful sampling methods. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used in the analysis of the data. The results obtained from the study can be summarized in the following way: • It was determined that most of the teachers define patriotism as loving one's country and believe that patriotism education has an important place in social studies lessons. • According to the teachers, patriotism education initially starts in the family, then continues in the school, supported by mass media and the environment. • Ataturk's Principles and History of Turkish Revolution lesson is viewed as directly related to patriotism, while patriotism and learning in the social studies curriculum are more related to the field of "Culture and Heritage" learning. • For patriotism education in social studies lessons, it was determined that mostly direct instruction and question-and-answer methods are used; while the commonly used materials are films, videos and documentaries, images such as paintings and photographs, and interactive board. • Setting an example has been expressed as the most important role that a teacher should have in terms of patriotism education. • According to teachers, frequently encountered problems about patriotism education are intensity of the program and the lack of patriotism in it, the fact that the course hours are scarce and intended trips are not allowed, problems about educational policies, and the fact that relevant visual materials are scarce. • For an effective patriotism education, social studies teachers have made suggestions such as increasing the learning from primary sources and by practice and experience, making the related trips more frequent, including the patriotism value in all lessons, and increasing its course hours. Keywords: Citizenship, homeland, patriotic education, patriotism, social studies.