Evaluation of the Removal of Teachers’ Guide Books According to the Opinions of Turkish Teachers
In the educational programs developed in Turkey since 2004, the constructivist approach was used and the textbooks and their content were changed in this direction. One of the programs prepared after this date is the Turkish Lesson Teaching Program. Books are to be used in Turkish lessons according to the new program; it has been prepared as a textbook, a workbook,and a teacher’s guide. Teachers’ guide books have been discontinued as of the 2018–2019 academic year. This study aims to determine the opinions of Turkish teachers about the abolition of teachers’ guide books. In the research, inter views were used form qualitative data collection methods and data obtained using a semi-structured interview form prepared following expert opinions were analyzed through content analysis.The findings were presented and interpreted in tables. At the end of the study, it was found that removing the teachers’ guide books was seen as having a negative impact on Turkish lessons in terms of planning, time management, and processing; although it has been concluded that it has positive effects on teachers’ creativity. In addition, the results suggested that the textbooks prepared after the guide books were removed were insufficient, the number of in-course activities decreased, and the removal of the guide books did not affect the learning processes of the students.
Öğretmen Kılavuz Kitaplarının Kaldırılmasının Türkçe Öğretmenlerinin Görüşlerine Göre Değerlendirilmesi
Türkiye’de 2004 yılından itibaren hazırlanan öğretim programlarında, yapılandırmacı yaklaşım esas alınmış ve ders kitapları ile içerikleri de bu doğrultuda değişikliğe uğramıştır. Bu tarihten sonra hazırlanan programlardan biri de Türkçe Dersi Öğretim Programı’dır. Yeni programa göre Türkçe derslerinde kullanılacak kitaplar; ders kitabı, çalışma kitabı ve öğretmen kılavuz kitabı olarak hazırlanmıştır. Öğretmen kılavuz kitapları 2018-2019 eğitim öğretim yılından itibaren kullanımdan kaldırılmıştır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, öğretmen kılavuz kitaplarının kaldırılması konusunda Türkçe öğretmenlerinin görüşlerini belirlemektir. Araştırmada nitel veri toplama yöntemlerinden görüşme kullanılmış, uzman görüşleri doğrultusunda hazırlanan yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu ile elde edilen veriler içerik analizi yoluyla çözümlenmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular tablolar halinde sunulmuş ve yorumlanmıştır. Araştırmanın sonunda öğretmen kılavuz kitaplarının kaldırılmasının Türkçe dersini planlama, zaman yönetimi, işleniş bakımından olumsuz yönde etkilediği sonuçlarına ulaşılırken öğretmen yaratıcılığı bakımından olumlu etkilerinin olduğu, öğretmenin yaratıcılığını artırdığı sonuçlarına ulaşılmıştır. Ayrıca kılavuz kitaplar kaldırıldıktan sonra hazırlanan ders kitaplarının içerik açısından yetersiz olduğu, ders içi etkinliklerin sayısının azaldığı ve kılavuz kitapların kaldırılmasının öğrencilerin öğrenme süreçlerine herhangi bir etkisinin olmadığı sonuçlarına da ulaşılmıştır.
Since 2004, in the field of education in Turkey has started to prepare a new curriculum. A constructivist approach was generally taken as a basis in the programs prepared, and course content, tools, and materials were rearranged according to this principle.The Turkish Primary Education Course curriculum based on the constructivist approach has been implemented for the Turkish course since 2005. According to the new curriculum, the books to be used in the course are prepared in three sets: as a textbook, a workbook, and the teachers' guide book. Teachers’ guide books, which were prepared so that teachers would understand the new program more quickly,and to guide books them, started to be used for Turkish lessons.
This study aims to determine the opinions of Turkish teachers about the removal of teachers’ guide books. To this end, the following sub-objectives were determined: 1-To establish teachers’ views on how the removal of teachers’ guide books affects planning Turkish lessons. 2- To establish teachers’ views on how the abolition of teachers’ guide books affects Turkish lessons in terms of time management. 3- To determine teachers’ views on how the removal of teachers’ guide books affectsTurkish lessons in terms of teaching. 4- To establish teachers’ views on the effect of removing teachers’ guide books on teachers’professional skills and creativity. 5- To establish teachers’ opinions about the content and quality of the textbooks that came into use after the teachers’guide books had been removed. 6- To establish teachers’ views on the number and quality of in-class activities after the removal of teacher’ guide books. 7- To establish teachers’ views on the effects of removing teachers’ guide books on students’ learning process.
In the research, qualitative data collection toolswere used, namely interviews. The study group for the enquiry consisted of 22 Turkish teachers who were selected through criterion sampling derived from purposeful sampling methods among Turkish teachers working in official secondary schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in Adana in the first semester of the 2019–2020 academic year.
While choosing the study group, it was taken into account that the teachers had worked both while using the guide book and after it had been removed. The data of the research were collected using a semi-structured interview form. After the questions to be included in the interview form had been prepared, they were presented for expert opinion, the necessary corrections were made in line with the opinions of the experts, and the interview form was finalized. The collected data were analyzed through content analysis. Accordingly, codes were created based on the data obtained.
According to the sub-objectives determined in the study, the following findings have been reached: 10 of the 22 Turkish teachers interviewed for the first sub-objective believe that the removal of the guide books does not affect the planning of Turkish lessons. Five teachers interviewed stated that removing the guide books caused a waste of time for the teachers in terms of planning the lesson11 of the teachers interviewed for the second sub-objective stated that the removal of the guide books had a negative effect on the course in terms of time management.However, 11 of them believed that there was no effect. According to the third subobjective eight of the teachers stated that the guide books affected the lesson planning. Five of them stated that they were useful for guiding in terms of methods and techniques, and four of them said they saved time. Regarding the fourth sub-objective, eight of the teachers stated that removing the guide books increased the professional skills and creativity of the teachers, seven stated that the removal of the guide books did not have any effect on the teachers’ professional skills and creativity. Six of the teachers stated that the guide books contributed positively to the professional skills and creativity of teachers who had just started in their profession. Nine teachers interviewed on the fifth sub-objective found the textbooks prepared after the removal of the guide books inadequate. Four teachers stated that nothing changed, and four teachers stated that the content of the book was simplified. Ten of the teachers interviewed for the sixth sub-objective stated that the number and quality of the activities in the textbooks decreased after the guide books were removed, while four teachers stated that the number and quality of the activities they performed in the lesson increased after the guide books were removed. While 17 teachers interviewed regarding the seventh sub-objective stated that removing the guide books did not affect the learning process of the students, five of them stated that this situation partially affected the process.
As a result, the following opinions were expressed the most according to each sub-objective in the interview with the participating teachers: The removal of the guide books has affected the planning of the Turkish course in various ways. Their removal has negatively affected the Turkish course in terms of time management. The guide books had ensured that teachers planned their lessons. The removal of guide books has increased the creativity of the teacher. After the guide books were removed, the content and competence of the textbooks decreased. After the guide books had been removed, the number of in-class activities decreased as did their quality. The removal of guide books did not affect students’ learning processes,therefore, it would be appropriate to re-introduce teachers’ guide books.
