Opinions of Social Studies Candidate Teachers on &quot;Democracy and Citizenship&quot;
Author: San, Selda
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Opinions,Social Studies,Preservice Teachers,Student Attitudes,Democracy,Citizenship,Foreign Countries,Democratic Values,Citizenship Education,Civil Rights,Definitions

When considered the basis of social studies, it can be seen that citizenship and citizenship-related issues are of vital importance. After the industrial revolution and immigration, education was considered as a solution to keep people together healthily who have serious problems with each other and are from different cultures. Within the context of this solution, raising citizens capable of living in society was aimed and this duty was given to social studies education programs. During the time, different forms and perceptions of citizenship have emerged and expectations of countries/governments from their citizens have changed. In the course of globalization, perceptions and expectations of citizens also have been transformed. In past, raising citizens obeying the state was the aim, today the expectation is to raise citizens who can carry their states, nations and even the world to higher levels and who can criticize, explore, solve problems and develop themselves at a national and universal level. Since human beings have to live together with different cultures and nations, they are expected to respect different ones from themselves and to be loyal to democratic values with a sense of tolerance. Today, the concept of citizenship cannot be considered without democracy and values of democracy. It is also important to reveal what social studies candidate teachers understand from the combination of citizenship and democracy concepts, which have crucial place in the nature of social studies and its education. For this reason, the aim of this research is to reveal the opinions of social studies candidate teachers on democracy and citizenship. This research is carried out using a qualitative research method. Social studies candidate teachers educated at Ege University makes up the study group of this research. In the study, opinions of social studies candidate teachers were received using a questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions. The research is carried out with 165 participants in total based on a voluntary basis. However, blank and meaningless data is eliminated and thus data of 135 participants is used in total. Data is collected with an open-ended questionnaire and is analyzed using content analysis method. In the result of the research, social studies candidate teachers defined citizenship as duties and responsibilities and they defined democracy rights-liberties and duties-responsibilities when they defined the concepts of democracy and citizenship. It can be said that according to social studies candidate teachers, democracy gives the meaning of rights and liberties to citizenship concept. They expressed a relation between two concepts and mentioned basic values/characteristics of democracy such as equality, justice, tolerance, freedom. However, results of this study demonstrate the necessity of a license program or teacher education program that handles the citizenship with a multi-dimensional and constructivist approach. [This study was presented as an oral presentation at the International Social Studies Education Symposium (USBES) in Kirsehir Ahi Evran University, in 2018.]