The Importance of Democracy and Human Rights in Social Studies Education in Turkey

Democracy and human rights are essential concepts for people as they are fundamental elements of human life. Demonstrating the importance of democracy and human rights in terms of human life can be achieved by educating people. Democracy and human rights education is given to primary and secondary school students through social studies lessons. As a matter of fact, social studies have content based on all situations, facts, and events related to human social life. In primary and secondary education, the knowledge, skills, and values people should have in their social life are presented to students through social studies education. In this study, the concepts of democracy and human rights were examined in terms of content and historical development, the place of these concepts in human education was tried to be discussed, and their importance in terms of social studies education was examined. The study stated that democracy and human rights education are essential facts in terms of human life. That theoretical and practical knowledge about democracy and human rights can be gained through education. On the other hand, the importance of the concepts of democracy and human rights in terms of social studies, an interdisciplinary field of education, has also been tried to be revealed in the study.