Search

In this study the importance of giving place to children's literature in Social Studies in the USA and Turkey has been described upon briefly. It has been observed that social studies instruction fields in the USA have highly affluent studies in regard to making use of children's literature. The new Social Studies Curriculum put into practice in Turkey in 2005 have been found to be better than the old curriculum. However, according to practices carried out it has also been observed that the use of literature materials had limited contribution during class application and in the instruction books prepared for teacher candidates. It is noticed that the importance given to the subject isn't still sufficient enough. Particularily, it was determined that the academic studies regarding the issue couldn't proceed beyond offering general ideas to teachers due to the fact that they approached the issue totally with a benefit-advantage approach.

Social Studies course aims not only the socialization of children but also providing them with some vital skills. And it is obvious that such aim can not be achieved only via the transfer of information and values. Taking as basis the USA practice, Social Studies course was started to be taught in primary schools of Turkey in place of history and geography courses in 1968. However, social studies course was based on the heavy transfer of information and values rather than provision of skills until 2005. In this context, as history was taught in a way that was irrelevant with the daily life of children, rote learning turned into an inseparable part of this course. By means of 2005 Social Studies curriculum, textbook-based teaching was replaced by activity-based teaching. The objectives of history course were reviewed and a history teaching approach aimed at providing vital skill was adopted. New curriculum presents a history course that teaches history by taking into consideration the factors such as children and their interests, parents and neighbourhood. (Contains 3 footnotes.)

This study is an action research based both on quantitative and qualitative research techniques carried out with a group of fifth grade students in K"r,ehir during the 2003-2004 education year. In the study, the main purpose was to improve historical time concept and chronology perceptions among fifth grade students. Students' interests, reactions to educational methods and materials (e.g., time tables, photographs, old household tools, collections, and so on) were used. In addition, the contributions of educational methods and materials on children's academic achievement levels related to the subject were studied. A success test were used in a pre-and-post-test design. The class times were recorded by a tape recorder and the learning products gained during the class were collected. Data evaluation included statistical analyses such as charting the pre-test and post-test scores on the attitude and achievement scales and the analyses of class process from voice-recorded data. In addition, student evaluation forms related to lectures and learning products and lesson evaluation compositions were analyzed. In interpreting the quantitative data, t-tests, ANOVA, percentage distributions and correlations were computed by SPSS. On the other hand, qualitative data were analyzed separately by evaluating voice record analysis and content analysis. According to the findings, preparing historical timelines by the help of individual timelines, old photographs, and examining old household tools not only attracted the interest of children towards history but also provided positive contribution in academic aspect on their historical time and chronology perceptions. At the end of this research, it is observed that historical time concept can be taught to children from the very early ages with suitable methods and approaches by using historical time tools.