Tartışmalı ve tabu konuların incelenmesi: Sosyal bilgiler öğretmenlerinin görüşleri

Ülkemizde tartışmalı ve tabu konular üzerine yapılmış eğitim araştırmaları sayısı oldukça sınırlıdır. Literatürdeki boşluğu doldurmayı hedefleyen bu çalışmada, sosyal bilgiler öğretmenlerinin tartışmalı ve tabu konuların değişik boyutlarına ilişkin görüşleri incelenmiştir. Araştırma verileri yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme protokolü ile toplanmış, elde edilen veriler sürekli karşılaştırma ve endüktif betimsel analiz yöntemleri ile çözümlenmiştir. Verilerin analizi sonucu katılımcıların tamamının tabulara karşı oldukları ve tabuları demokratik ilkelerle, özellikle düşünce özgürlüğüyle uyumlu görmedikleri belirlenmiştir. Tabu olarak görülen konuların çoğunun siyasi tarih kapsamına girdiği görülmüştür. Katılımcılar, tabu olarak düşündükleri konulara daha çok Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin ilk yılları ile Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun son dönemlerinden örnekler vermiştir. En sık rastlanan tabuların Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin kurucusu Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ve O’nun yaptığı reformlarla ilgili olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Katılımcılar, öğrencilerin tartışmalı ve tabu konuları öğrenmeye istekli olduklarını ama tartışma yapmak için gerekli sosyal ve iletişim becerilerine yeterince sahip olmadıklarını, bu nedenle sınıfta bu tür konular üzerine tartışma yapmaktan kaçındıklarını belirtmişlerdir. Cinsiyetin katılımcıların bakış açıları üzerinde etkili olduğu gözlenmiştir.

Investigation into controversial issues and taboo topics: Social studies teachers’ perspectives

There is a lack of educational research on controversial issues and taboo topics in Turkey. To address this gap in the literature, this study examined social studies teachers’ perspectives on controversial issues and taboo topics by employing qualitative research methods. Analysis of research data indicated that all participants were against taboos, viewing them as incompatible with the principles of democracy especially with freedom of thought. Many of the topics that were considered to be controversial and taboo by the participants have to do with political history. Most participants gave examples from the late periods of the Ottomans and the early history of the Turkish Republic to explain what topics they thought as taboo. The most commonly found taboo topics had to do with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his reform movements. The majority of participants were found to avoid holding discussions on controversial issues or taboo topics with their students for different reasons. They thought that even though students were eager to deal with this kind of issues, they lacked some communication and social skills to get involved in discussion on those topics. Gender of the participants was found to affect their views on the research topic.

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