The purpose of this article is to describe and discuss the recent reform in the Turkish elementary school curriculum. While doing this, we provide a detailed overview of the social, cultural, individual, and economic roots of the curriculum. It is indicated in this brief overview of the new Turkish curriculum that Turkey has caught the momentum of improving its education system. There have been curriculum changes all over the world based on the contemporary approaches toward teaching and learning. Along with this trend, Turkish curriculum developers adapt a reformist philosophy that supports children’s active construction of their knowledge through problem solving, exploration, reflection and communication, and other thought-provoking processes that require high level cognitive demand (Stein et al, 1996). Another significant characteristic of the curriculum change is that the content or what to teach is not changed dramatically, but just slightly revised. Thus, a comparison of the old and the new curricula on the surface indicates that both look quite similar in terms of the content they cover; though, opposite to the traditional nature of the old curriculum, the new one brings various characteristics of the reformist movement around the world such as considering interdisciplinary connections, and the use of technology and other instructional tools. As a result, the reformist wave in education has arrived in Turkey and significantly influences the elementary school curriculum. Yet, it is not the only key variable influencing the curriculum change in Turkey. Turkey’s long lasting ambitions to be a full member state of the European Union and raise Turkish students’ low academic performance have helped the country to reform its political, economic, institutional and educational structures.
The curriculum change initiated other associated movements in the education arena of Turkey. For example, the publication of new textbooks aligned with the curriculum has already been started. For the first time in Turkey, student workbooks and teacher editions are being published to support the student textbooks. In addition to the textbooks, the Ministry of National Education has designed and developed instructional and technological tools and manipulative materials aligned with the needs of the new curriculum. The Ministry of National Education not only places an emphasis on the development of the instructional tools, but also emphasises the effective utilisation of them by teachers and students. In particular, teacher education workshops and seminars are being carried out around the country to inform the teachers about the effective implementation of the curriculum sources. Teacher educators give additional seminars based on teachers’ needs and questions about the new curriculum. In addition, experts and program developers give seminars to pre-service teachers as well as parents, and school related communities on the regulation and implementation of the new program.
Pilot studies have been conducted in nine provinces representing the entire country to evaluate the implementation process. Indeed, the curriculum revision is a life-long process. Future research studies, policy documents and teacher input are planned to inform curriculum developers on strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum reform. Thus, it is not enough just to document the goals of the curriculum, but new research needs to be carried out to monitor the implementation of the process. This paper is an initial step to inform the outside education community about the reform of the elementary school curriculum in Turkey.
Effective curriculum implementation and improvement is based on systematic, continued effort at altering learning conditions in the classroom and other internal conditions within the school