Öğrencilerin Sosyal Bilgiler Dersi Ödevlerine Yönelik Tutumlarının Ölçülmesi: bir ölçek geliştirme çalışması


 
 
 
www.sosyalbilgiler.org 

 
Journal of Social Studies Education Research 

Sosyal Bilgiler Eğitimi Araştırmaları Dergisi 

 
2016: 7(1), 41-72 

 

© 2016 Journal of Social Studies Education Research, ISSN: 1309-9108 

 

How Can I Describe Social Studies Curriculum in the First Three Years 

of Primary School? A Case Study1 
 

Sümer AKTAN2 
 

Abstract: The aim of this study is to determine the opinions of a multigrade class teacher on the 
nature of social studies lesson, the structure of the social studies curriculum, and the teaching 
process of social studies lesson. The study was structured in line with a holistic single case 
design which is contained in the tradition of qualitative research. The teacher participating in 
the study is 29 years old and has been serving as a teacher for 7 years. The data collection tools 
used in the study were semi-structured interview form and observation form. In the process of 
designing the data collection tools, the literature was reviewed and the expert opinions were 
taken into account. The expert opinion was also considered with regards to the validity and 
reliability of the questions included in the interview form and the questions on which the 
experts had a mutual consensus were determined and included in the list of questions. The 
content analysis was used in the analysis of the findings obtained from the study and the 
themes were determined after the records of the interviews had been deciphered. Three themes, 
which are the nature of the social studies, opinions on the social studies curriculum, and 
opinions on how to put into practice the social studies curriculum more efficiently in village 
schools, were determined within the scope of the study. The themes determined in this regard 
were analyzed within the context of the problematic of the study. Based on the findings 
obtained from the study, the opinions of the multigrade class teacher on the nature of social 
studies were found to be consistent, social studies were found to be an essential discipline to 
achieve citizenship skills, and the opinions of the teacher on putting into practice the social 
studies curriculum were found to be positive. The suggestions provided by the study within the 
context of the challenges encountered in the process of teaching social studies in village 
schools include the following: a separate curriculum should be designed for village schools, 
teacher’s guidebooks should be adapted to the village conditions, and particularly, the 
information technology applications should be developed in terms of quality. 
 
Keywords: Primary school social studies curriculum, the first three years of primary school, 
multigrade class, village school, case study 

 

Introduction 
 In the most general sense, education is an intentional enculturation process 

(Ertürk, 1966; 1972). This enculturation process not only helps individuals adapt to the 
                                                 
1 In the most general sense, social education in Turkey in the first three years of primary school is introduced 
by Hayat bilgisi [Hayat bilgisi is a lesson which basis of social studies the first three years of primary school] 
lesson followed by social studies lesson from the 4th grade to the 7th grade. In this context, hayat bilgisi form 
the basis for social studies. The main objectives of hayat bilgisi, much the same as social studies, are to 
ensure efficient adaptation of the individual to the environment and culture in which the individual lives as 
well as helping the individual to help solve problems encountered throughout life. The term life science is 
used in some studies conducted in Turkey. However, science rather connotes natural sciences. In this context, 
science and studies reflect two different disciplines of philosophy of science. This distinction is most 
pronounced in the philosophy of science tradition of Anglo-Saxon and Continental Europe. Science mostly 
describes concepts associated with natural sciences whereas the German word Wissenschaft is mostly used to 
describe the human world. In this context, the author prefers to use the phrase social studies instead of life 
sciences due to some philosophical reasons. Within the scope of this text, social studies represent Hayat 
bilgisi lesson introduced in the first three years of primary school. 
2 Asst. Prof. Dr., Balikesir University, saktanus@yahoo.com 



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society in which they live, but also aims to ensure that individuals become a productive 

citizen. Therefore, it is ensured that the citizens constituting the society interlock around 

common values and live with a common purpose (Baker, 2011; Dewey, 1916; Egemen, 

1965; Turhan, 1994).  This intentional enculturation process has been implemented by 

almost all civilizations since the days on which people began to have a communal life 

(Aytaç, 1992; Kanad, 1963; Monroe, 1901). In the societies of the antiquity, family played 

the most influential role in the enculturation process whereas the role of the family 

gradually decreased during the years following the Industrial Revolution and schools 

began to play this role thereafter. Therefore, school played a main role in this intentional 

enculturation process by means of the lessons contained in the school curriculum and 

established its impact as an influential institution day by day. The fact that the 

governments have explored the influence of education played a significant role particularly 

in the establishment of this impact (Fraser, 2009; Heater, 2001; 2004; Katz, 1976; Tilly, 

1995). 

 The fact that governments have explored the influence of education also raised 

some questions. How would this comprehensive enculturation process be organized? How 

would it be implemented? Most importantly, which information would be used in this 

process? Addressing these questions was required because the future of the society and the 

state depended on the new generations to adopt the culture of the society and to become 

productive members of the society. The answers to these questions were found in the 

lessons contained in the school curriculum. The culture would be a priority for the 

development of the school curriculum and the contents of the lessons included in the 

curriculum would be designed in this scope with an aim to ensure that new generations 

internalize the culture, adopt the value judgements of the society, and become productive 

citizens (Günel & Pehlivan, 2015). In this designation process, the lessons that would play 

the predominant role were determined to be history, geography, literature, native language, 

and citizenship lessons. Especially during the 19th century and until the beginning of the 

20th century, the intentional enculturation process was implemented through the 

abovementioned lessons. On the other hand, the transformation and industrialization in the 

USA, the UK, and the Continental Europe towards the end of the 19th century and in the 

beginning of the 20th century have sparked off some debate about social studies based on 

history and geography. The main reason for such debate was especially due to the change 

and transformation process taking place in the USA. As a consequence of such debate, 



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social studies have been recognized as an academic field within the curriculum (Davis, 

1981; Hertzberg, 1981; Jorgansen, 2010). 

 The main objective of social studies was to help individuals adopt the culture 

in which they live to become a natural part of the society through the socialization process 

as well as assuming citizenship responsibilities to be productive, to find solutions to 

various life problems, and to think critically whenever required as the members of the 

society (Akınoğlu, 2002; Sönmez, 2010).  In order for this socialization process to become 

successful, social studies education was required to be comprehensive. Undoubtedly, the 

primary and the most fundamental requirement for this type of social studies education was 

to educate teachers to make them understand the nature of social studies and become aware 

of the unique characteristics of social studies to distinguish social studies lesson from other 

lessons. These qualities are especially important for classroom teachers who will instruct 

social studies in primary school. For an efficient and competent social studies education, 

classroom teachers should have a clear perspective on the nature of social studies. This 

perspective will have a positive influence on their skills to put into practice the curriculum 

as well as their attitudes towards this process. Teacher qualification is an essential factor, 

which is more instrumental than any other variables, in the academic achievement of the 

students and the attainment of the objectives of the curriculum (Ferguson 1991; Goldhaber 

and Brewer 2000; Mayer, Mullens, and Moore, 2000). For a classroom teacher who 

considers social studies as the foundation of the social structure and the cultivation of 

citizens, social studies teaching would require a teaching and learning process based on 

application as well as a number of interactions among various methods and techniques. On 

the other hand, a classroom teacher who does not share such a perspective would adopt an 

ordinary teaching process without paying attention to or being aware of such intricate 

details. From this point of view, providing an efficient teaching service in social studies 

lesson and achieving the objectives of the curriculum depend on the teacher’s perception of 

the social studies lesson and opinions on the social studies curriculum. It is possible that 

these perception and opinions would affect the behaviors of the teacher, or in other words, 

they would affect the behaviors of the teacher on teaching and learning processes. 

Individuals structure their behaviors based on how they perceive phenomena or their 

environment (Cüceloğlu, 2004; Kağıtçıbaşı, 2013). Therefore, it can be said that a 

teacher’s perception about the social studies lesson and opinions on the curriculum can be 

considered to be significant variables to have an influence on the attainment of the 

objectives of the curriculum. In this context, it can be suggested that the first step to 



Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2016: 7(1), 41-72 
 

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understand a teacher’s perception includes an analysis of the objectives of the social 

studies and the role of social studies in this enculturation process. 

  The main objectives of the social studies lesson are preparing children to life 

and educating them to become citizens to internalize the culture of the society (Ata, 2006; 

Binbaşıoğlu, 2003; MEB, 2005; Ochoa-Baker, 2007; Sönmez, 2005; 2010, Tarman & 

Acun, 2010). The social studies curriculum, which is designed in line with the 

psychological development of the students based on the organization of the knowledge 

obtained from such fields as natural sciences and social sciences, has a suitable structure 

for broad field design (Taba, 1962; Tanner & Tanner, 1975). Broad field design is 

efficiently used for combining various information especially obtained from specific 

scientific fields based on the principles of horizontal and vertical coherence (Tanner & 

Tanner, 1975). From this perspective, social studies accommodate a wide range of 

information network such as history, geography, sociology, anthropology, and physical 

sciences (Kenworthy, 1973). Therefore, it can be said that the nature of the social studies 

lesson is multi-dimensional. The primary requirements for a teacher to make students 

attain the objectives of the social studies lesson are comprehension of the social studies as 

a lesson and identification of its structure. Once this structure is identified, the teacher will 

explore the nature of social studies. 

 

 The exploration process of the nature of social studies by teacher is also important 

for explaining teaching and learning process. Once a teacher comprehends the nature of 

social studies, s/he may manage teaching and learning process by taking into account the 

multi-dimensionality of the lesson. This may also be reflected in the teacher’s opinions on 

the social studies curriculum. For a teacher who does not perceive social studies as a multi-

dimensional discipline, teaching and learning process would probably become a 

monotonous process. On the other hand, it is also possible to reduce the lesson to one 

dimension and teach the lesson in this way. However, comprehension of these multi-

dimensional relations may have an effect on various variables from teaching social studies 

lesson to the teacher’s opinions on the curriculum. For a teacher perceiving social studies 

as a multi-dimensional discipline, social studies lesson would go beyond the boundaries of 

the classroom to merge with life out there and would be used to find solutions to the 

students’ problems associated with daily life. 

 



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 Social studies lesson 3was introduced in the primary school by the 1926 curriculum 

for the first time in Turkey. The main objective of the social studies lesson was defined as 

ensuring efficient adaptation of the individuals to their environment (MV, 1926). During 

the following years thereafter, the objectives of the social studies lesson included in the 

first three years of primary school within the scope of the 1936, 1948, 1962, 1968, 1998 

curricula have been developed in line with the general objective stipulated in 1926. 

Furthermore, the multi-dimensionality of the social studies lesson was emphasized and a 

comprehensive perspective on the nature of social studies was provided within the 

framework of curriculum development efforts taking place in 2004 (MEB, 2005). On the 

other hand, some problems were identified in terms of putting into practice the social 

studies curriculum. Previous studies demonstrated that classroom teachers especially 

serving in village schools with multigrade class encounter a number of problems arising 

from the attainments of the curriculum, lack of classroom materials, failure to fully 

implement assessment and evaluation activities, and the problems arising from the practice 

of multigrade class itself (Abay, 2007; Akpınar, Turan and Gözler, 2006; Gözler, 2009; 

Kazu and Aslan, 2012; Sınmaz, 2009). In terms of teaching and learning process, similar 

problems were also encountered in the foreign literature. One of the most important 

problems in teaching social studies in foreign primary schools is teacher qualifications. It 

was emphasized that the teacher’s qualifications as well as attitudes and expectations 

played a significant role in academic achievement and social education applications in 

primary school (Brophy, Alleman, & Halvorsen, 2012). Teachers’ opinions on the nature 

of social studies playing an important role in the context of social education in primary 

school were found to have an influence on teachers’ attitudes adopted during the teaching 

process (Farris, 2015; Goodman & Adler, 1985; Owens, 1997; Rapoport, 2015). Teachers’ 

attitudes and beliefs on the teaching field can be considered as a significant factor having 

an effect on putting the curriculum into practice. This proposition is not limited to life 

sciences or social studies alone. Studies on teachers from various fields demonstrated that 

teachers’ attitudes and beliefs on their respective teaching fields in general had affected 

their perspectives on the teaching process (Bartos & Lederman, 2014; Cess-Newsome, 

1999; Fishman, Konstantopoulos, Kubitskey, Vath, Park, Johnson & Edelson, 2013; 

Morine-Dershimer & Kent, 1999; Nilsson, 2008; Nilsson & Loughran, 2012). Teachers’ 

attitudes and beliefs are significant variables having a wide range of effects on teachers 

                                                 
3 Social studies reflects hayat bilgisi lesson in the first three years of primary school. 



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from encouraging them to use various methods and techniques to the integration of 

technology (Funkhouser & Mouza, 2013; Kim, Kim, Lee, Spector & DeMeester, 2013). 

 

The Aim of the Study 
 
 Identification of teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions is essential for 

understanding the problems associated with teaching in multigrade classes and especially 

for the determination of the teachers’ perspectives in small village schools providing 

education for the first four grades of primary school. This is due to the fact that these 

schools are deprived of many facilities and opportunities compared to other larger schools. 

The difficulties encountered by the teachers, who are considered as the direct practitioners 

of the curriculum, on putting the curriculum into practice are also included among the 

factors that may affect the quality of the teaching service. Teachers’ opinions on putting 

the curriculum into practice may shed light on the efforts to create a quality teaching 

environment as well as ensuring the attainments of the teaching objectives of the social 

studies lesson. Moreover, teachers’ perceptions of social studies are equally important. It 

can be suggested that teachers’ perceptions of social studies have a wide range of effects 

on teachers from the teaching methods and techniques they use to the teaching style they 

adopt in the class. If the teacher perceives social studies lesson as a multi-disciplinary 

approach as well as a lesson helping students internalize the culture of the society, become 

a productive citizen, and providing means to overcome problems encountered throughout 

life, then the teacher would possibly have a novel approach towards the social studies 

lesson. Understanding how the conditions in which teachers serving in village schools find 

themselves affect putting the curriculum into practice and how teachers deal with such 

conditions may also contribute to classroom teachers who have problems especially in 

terms of practice. Another objective of the study is to reveal how classroom teachers feel 

when they put the social studies curriculum into practice. Some of the most crucial 

variables having an influence on the teacher’s efforts in terms of practice are the teacher’s 

dedication to the curriculum and attitudes towards practice. It is observed that the level of 

dedication of a teacher to the curriculum and positive attitudes towards practice are two 

significant factors having an effect on the teacher’s performance in the classroom (Kelly & 

Carbonaro, 2012). In this context, the aim of this study is to determine the opinions of a 

teacher serving in a village school with multigrade class on the nature of social studies, the 



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social studies curriculum, and the teaching process of the social studies lesson to provide 

suggestions in line with these opinions. 

 

Method 

 In this section, details of the research model, participants of the study, data 

collection tools as well as the techniques used in data collection and data analysis are 

provided. 

 

Research Model 

 The aim of this study is to identify the opinions of a classroom teacher serving 

in a multigrade class on the nature of the social studies lesson, the structure of the social 

studies curriculum, and the teaching process of the social studies lesson. Due to the fact 

that the conditions to be analyzed have an idiosyncratic structure and the requirement for 

an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the problem, case study method contained in 

the tradition of qualitative research was used in the study. In the literature, case study is 

defined as a research method studying a current phenomenon within its real life 

environment, where the boundaries between the phenomena and its environment are not 

conclusively defined, and multiple sources of evidence and/or data exist (Yin, 2002; 

Yıldırım & Şimşek, 2008). Merriam (1998) emphasized that case studies were valuable as 

it allowed for accounting for phenomena and events in their respective contexts. In this 

study, a holistic single case design model was used. This is due to the fact that the aim of 

the study is to determine the opinions of a classroom teacher, serving in a multigrade class 

for around 5 years, on the nature of social studies, the structure of the social studies 

curriculum, and the teaching process of the social studies lesson based on her experiences 

(in the form of observations and interviews), and that the case in question has idiosyncratic 

conditions. 

 
Participants 

 Holistic single case design is especially useful in the analysis of the problem in 

a comprehensive manner under its idiosyncratic conditions. Only one teacher was selected 

to participate in the study since the case has idiosyncratic conditions and for the purpose of 

analyzing the problem in depth and in more detail. Therefore, the said classroom teacher 

employed in a village school with multigrade class is the only participant of this study. In 

other words, the unit of analysis in this study is single. The teacher, who provided her 



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opinions within the scope of this study, is 29 years old (Teacher A is abbreviated as TA in 

this study). Ms. TA has been working as a teacher for seven years. In her occupational 

carrier, TA has worked in larger schools as well as small village schools. The teacher, a 

graduate of classroom teaching of the faculty of education, has a five-year experience in 

terms of teaching a multigrade class. 

 

Data Collection Tools 

 Within the scope of qualitative studies, data collection tools and data collection 

process are crucial for the validity and reliability of the findings obtained. The main 

problem as well as the relevant sub-problems associated with the problem of the study 

have been taken into account in designing the appropriate data collection tools for the 

study. Semi-structured interview form and observation form were determined to be the 

most appropriate data collection tools for the analysis of these sub-problems. The sub-

problems of the study have also been taken into account in preparing the semi-structured 

interview form. Accordingly, the main sub-problems of this study are the nature of social 

studies, the structure of the social studies curriculum, and the teaching process of social 

studies. The relevant questions for these sub-problems were directed to the teacher based 

on a literature review to identify such questions. Upon the approval of the questionnaire 

form by an academician specialized in linguistics, the questionnaire form was presented to 

five academicians specialized in pedagogy and qualitative research. These experts 

reviewed the relevance of the questions to the problem and sub-problems of the study and 

assigned a score for each question accordingly. The forms scored by the experts were 

analyzed in accordance with Davis (1992) content validity index (CVI) and the items 

whose average are 0.80 and above were included in the questionnaire. The questions 

included in the semi-structured form are as follows. 

 
1- What is the place of the social studies lesson in the curriculum according to 

your opinions? 

2- How do you describe the social studies lesson? Which dimensions of the 
social studies lesson are different from other lessons according to your 
opinions? 

3- What are your opinions on the attainments of the social studies lesson? 

4- What do you think about the content of the social studies lesson? 



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5- How do you evaluate the activities included in the social studies 
curriculum? 

6- How do you teach the social studies lesson? Can you describe, please? 

7- What do you think about the evaluation activities in the social studies 
lesson? 

8- What are your opinions and suggestions for a more active and efficient 
teaching of the social studies lesson? 

 
 Another data collection tool used in the study is observation. The observations 

in this study are based on participation. The teacher participating in the study was observed 

especially in the social studies lesson twice weekly. The author prepared an observation 

form to keep the observation records. Expert opinion was requested for the conformity of 

the observation form and the observation form was revised to its final form in line with the 

relevant criticism from the experts. All activities and behaviors of the teacher during class 

were accurately recorded in the observation form by the author. This observation form was 

used as a promoter within the scope of data analysis. In addition to the observation process, 

another data collection tool is casual unstructured conversations. Conversations with the 

teacher took place in a casual manner during the break times and lunch breaks, and these 

data were also analyzed in combination with other data obtained during the process of the 

study. 

 
Procedures 

 The study had continued for approximately 3 months. First of all, the 

participant teacher was provided with the aim of the study and the author proceeded with 

the procedures upon the consent of the teacher. Questions included in the semi-structured 

interview form were directed to the teacher within a period of approximately 75 minutes in 

a session that took place outside the school hours. Before asking the questions, the author 

explained to the teacher that voice records would be kept and whether the teacher gave 

consent thereof, and the interview process took places after the required consent was given 

by the teacher. The observations were performed for two class hours (40x2=80 minutes), 

one hour (40 minutes) for each, twice weekly. The observations records were 

approximately accounted for a total of 24 class hours during the period of 3 months. The 

observation form kept at the end of each class was also shared with the teacher. On the 

other hand, casual conversations took place outside the class hours and completely 



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developed in a natural and casual manner. The main theme of these conversations was the 

sub-problems related to the process of the study. 

 
Data Analysis 
 
 In this study, the content analysis was used in the analysis of data. Within this 

scope, firstly, the interview records were deciphered and transcribed. Following the 

descriptive analysis of the observation form(s), the descriptive analysis of the interviews in 

the form of conversations was also performed. Following deciphering of the interview 

records, encoding was performed based on the themes determined. The themes determined 

in the study are as follows: opinions on the nature of the social studies lesson (the place of 

the social studies in the curriculum, can you describe social studies? What is the difference 

of social studies lesson from other lessons?), opinions on the social studies curriculum 

(opinions on the attainments, opinions on the content, opinions on teaching conditions, 

opinions on the evaluation activities), opinions on the more efficient application of the 

social studies curriculum in village schools (opinions on the more efficient application of 

social studies in village schools). The findings of the interviews in the form of 

conversations and the analyses obtained from the observation form were also processed in 

line with these themes with an aim to support the analysis. Interviews in the form of 

conversations were abbreviated as (IFC). Likewise, the data obtained from observation 

forms were abbreviated as (OF), interview records were abbreviated as (IR). In the analysis 

of data, (TA) abbreviation was used to represent the teacher. 

 

Reliability and Validity of the Study 
 
 In qualitative research and particularly in case studies, reliability is of great 

concern. One of the most efficient way to address reliability and validity issues is to extend 

the period of data collection and observation. This study has been completed after a period 

of approximately 3 months. The total planned observation period was 24 class hours 

consisting of 2 class hours each week. In addition, casual conversations continued during 

the period of the study and the records of these conversations were kept in a study logbook. 

Another method recommended to ensure the validity and reliability of the study is an 

approach called triangulation or trivet method. Triangulation or trivet method can be 

described as investigating the case in question using different methods (Glesne and 

Peshkin, 1992). In reference to the literature on qualitative research, it was remarked that 



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using different methods had a positive effect on the quality of qualitative researches 

(Patton, 2002; Poggenpoel and Myburgh, 2003). Three main methods have been used in 

this study with an aim to ensure reliability. The first method is interview. The form 

intended for the interview was structured in line with the problematic of the study and 

revised, as required, following the review of a group of academicians specialized in the 

field. The assignment of the scores to the questionnaire by a group of specialized 

academicians as well as the calculation of the forms based on the formula of the Davis 

content validity index (CVI) were also crucial for the determination of the structural 

validity of the data collection tools used in the study. Following the interview process, 

determination of the themes and encoding process were completed and the process related 

to theme and encoding was repeated by an academician specialized in the field. Any 

section was revised in case of difference of opinions, and the encoding was performed to 

reflect the highest level of consensus based on the common perspective. Following 

deciphering of the observation form, the deciphered form was reviewed by another expert 

for control purposes. Another method used in the study is observation. The author has 

shared the same environment with the teacher participating in the study. Thus, Teacher A 

was observed both in various environments within the school as well as the classroom 

environment. The results of the observations were compared to the text obtained from the 

deciphered interview form and put into writing. Another method is the interviews in the 

form of conversations. The author conducted casual and open-ended conversations with 

Teacher A at break times and lunch breaks, and he was engaged in note-taking during these 

conversations. All records obtained from the data collection process were put into writing 

after reviewed in terms of consistency among each another during data processing. Based 

on the review, all data obtained from the interviews, observations, and casual 

conversations were found to be consistent among each other. Another effort for the 

purpose of ensuring the reliability of the study was made in collaboration with Teacher A. 

The analyses performed were shared with Teacher A and her opinions were received. In 

this regard, utmost care was taken to avoid any potential error during the analysis process. 

Regarding the validity of the study, the process of the study was described in detail and an 

explicit framework of the process was intended to be revealed as much as possible. 

 

Findings and Commentary 



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 Findings and commentary chapter of the study includes the interpretation of the 

opinions based on the themes determined. Three main themes have been determined within 

the scope of the study. These themes are the opinions on the nature of the social studies 

lesson, opinions on the social studies curriculum and opinions on the efficient application 

of social studies curriculum in village schools, respectively. 

 

Opinions on the nature of the social studies lesson 

 Firstly, the opinions of TA on the nature of the social studies lesson were determined 

within the scope of the study. For this purpose, questions about this theme were asked to 

her in the question form. The objective of these questions was to determine how TA makes 

sense of social studies. In this section, the data obtained from both the recordings of the 

interviews and the interviews in the form of conversations were used. The recordings of 

the interviews were coded as (RI) and the interviews in the form of conversations were 

coded as (IFC). The numbers next to IFC and RI show the question number and the letters 

next to the numbers show the respective orders of the answers given to the related 

questions. In this context, the following questions were asked to TA: What is the place of 

the social studies lesson in the curriculum according to your opinions? How do you 

describe the social studies lesson? Which dimensions of the social studies lesson are 

different from other lessons according to your opinions? The answers for these questions 

provided by TA are as follows: 
“In my opinion, social studies lesson is in the center during the first three years of the 

primary school curriculum (IFC, 1 /A).” 

 

“Social studies lesson is different from other lessons in that social studies lesson 

includes a process to help students to define the properties of their character during the 

first three years of the primary school education (RI, 1 /A-IFC1/A).” 

 

“This lesson is definitely different from other lessons as it prepares students for life, 

providing a basis to understand the society in which they live and to acquire awareness, 

thus, this lesson is in the center of the curriculum because our main objective in 

primary school education is to help individuals to adjust to the society in which they live 

and to form a character with good nature (RI, 1/ B).” 

 

“In my opinion, the social studies lesson covers the curriculum as a whole. I think that 

all the other lessons should be taught in parallel with this lesson (RI, 1 /C-IFC, 1/C).” 

 



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“Social studies lesson provides a basis during the first three years of the primary school 

to help students adjust to the society in which they live and teach them about the 

culture, providing useful information and skills to solve problems they encounter in life 

(RI, 2 /A)” 

 An analysis of the opinions of TA on the first question indicates that TA clearly thinks 

that social studies lesson is different from other lessons. This is due to the fact that TA 

perceives social studies as a lesson that helps students form a character with good nature 

and helps them understand the society in which they live and internalize the cultural 

values. Suggesting that the main objective of the other lessons contained in the curriculum 

is to achieve the objectives of the social studies lesson, TA thinks that social studies is a 

special and privileged lesson for the primary education level. In this perspective, TA has a 

significant integrity in her opinions on the nature of the social studies. An analysis of the 

social studies curriculum from past to present (1926, 1936, 1948, 1968, 2004) shows that 

the main emphasis and objective of the social studies lesson is the adaptation of the 

individual to the culture in which they live, acquisition of values, and thus becoming an 

individual with a good character. 

Opinions on the social studies curriculum 

 The opinions on the social studies curriculum were mainly analyzed by five questions 

contained in the interview form. In addition, the data obtained from the observation form 

were used within the context of this section. The first emphasis under this heading is the 

attainments of the social studies lesson. Subsequently, the dimensions of the context, 

activities, teaching and learning process as well as assessment and evaluation have been 

analyzed, respectively. 

Social Studies Curriculum and Attainments 

 The concept of attainment contained in the curriculum emphasizes the qualities to be 

acquired by the students at the end of the teaching process. An analysis of the social 

studies curriculum implemented in primary school shows that a total of 86 attainments 

distributed in 3 themes in the first grade, a total of 95 attainments in 3 themes in the second 

grade, and a total of 111 attainments in 3 themes in the third grade can be identified. 

Attainments contained in the scope of the social studies curriculum essentially aims to help 

students acquire certain skills. TA thinks that the attainments contained in the social 

studies curriculum are suitable for the comprehension level of the students and in 

compliance to the nature of the social studies lesson. 



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“The attainments contained within the scope of the social studies lesson are 

basically about certain skills to be acquired by the individual. For instance, the 

main focus of the social studies lesson is about attainments providing for 

proficiency on such issues as critical thinking, self-care, self-confidence, gaining 

experience, learning about the society and culture in which the individual lives, 

etc. (RI, 3 / A).” 

 TA thinks that the quality of attainments is of great importance. She emphasizes that 

the attainments especially contained in the first grade are quite simple and more applicable 

to daily life compared to previous curriculum. This feature plays a major role in achieving 

the attainments of the social studies curriculum in a more efficient fashion. 
“The most beneficial feature of the new curriculum is perhaps the close relations 

between the attainments of the social studies lesson and the students’ lives. For 

instance, if we discuss a subject in class about family, students are able to give 

direct examples from their families. Likewise, students can easily provide examples 

during the lesson about their life and the environment in which they live. This is 

quite important for me because it allows for the attainments to be achieved in a 

more efficient way (RI, 3/B)”. 

 On the other hand, this perspective is not applicable for the entire curriculum and thus 

certain attainments are rather difficult to be achieved by students especially those growing 

up in a village environment. 
“I’d like to state that some of the attainments provided in the social studies 

curriculum are not suitable for children who grow up in a village environment. I 

mean that they are not associated with the student’s life. However, I should note that 

this is not the case in most of the attainments contained in the curriculum. (RI, 3/ 

C).” 

 It was also emphasized that the attainments are quite possible to be achieved by using 

a variety of teaching methods.  
“We make use of various methods such as acting and drama in our lessons and after 

learning a subject, the students immediately warn their friends if they behave in a 

wrong way. I observed this in a number of occasions this year. Although we may not 

observe this in every student, I still think that it is very successful. The attainments 

seem to be more practical to make use of various active learning techniques (RI, 3 

/D).” 

 The fact that the attainments contained in the curriculum are associated with each 

other and that they have an interdisciplinary nature enable the curriculum to have an 

integrated perspective and since an attainment supports another attainment, the learning 

process becomes richer and more efficient by means of the integrity of these attainments 

within the curriculum. 



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“The association of an attainment contained in a theme of the social studies lesson 

with other themes and attainments are indicated. This feature contributes positively 

to the learning process especially in terms of the review of a lesson as well as 

associations with other subjects contained within the scope of the lesson. (RI, 3/E)”. 

 

 Furthermore, the fact that the attainments contained in the curriculum are presented at 

a simple and elementary level is considered significant according to TA. 

 
“These attainments (contained in the social studies curriculum) are brilliant. That is 

to say, the curriculum is not like a crash program. The attainments are quite simple. 

I am able to teach an attainment within 4 hours. Students efficiently associate these 

attainments with their life within these 4 hours and thus, I observe very positive 

results about it (RI, 3 /F).” 

 

Social studies curriculum and content 

 One of the four components of a curriculum is content (Demirel, 2007). It is important 

to design the content as it is an essential factor for achieving the attainments contained in 

the curriculum. Designing the content in compliance to the pedagogical characteristics of 

the students and their life experiences plays an essential role in achieving the attainments. 

TA emphasized that the content of the social studies program is simple. 

 
“In my opinion, the number of the attainments is not much but it is enough. Primary 

school education requires introduction of less attainments and more time for 

teaching them. In other words, the number of the attainments provides teachers with 

enough time to teach them. Perhaps, the curriculum could be simpler. It may be 

better for educational activities. Nevertheless, I think that the new curriculum is 

simple and plain in terms of the content. Consequently, it is possible to engage in 

more activities and devote enough time for each attainment (RI, 4 /A).” 

 Another dimension about the content is textbooks. TA thinks that the textbook designs 

and illustrations clearly reflect the content and attainments of the curriculum. 

 
“The textbooks are essentially based on illustrations. What I most like in the 

textbooks is that two pages are completely composed of pictures and subject is 

summarized by one sentence. This helps the students actively participate in 

discussion during the lesson and the students simply interpret what they see in the 

illustrations. How does this work? If the illustrations are about something that the 

student has not seen in his or her immediate surroundings, we close our textbooks 

and dream about it. What else can we do? We can give examples from our village or 



Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2016: 7(1), 41-72 
 

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from our environment. In general, the illustrations in the textbooks are quite enough 

in terms of the context.” (RI, 4/B).” 

 

 The design of the textbooks and the fact that the context of the lesson is presented in a 

simple fashion are also significant contributors to the efficient management of the teaching 

and learning process by the teacher. 
“I like the design of the textbooks very much. They are quite practical for teachers. 

Because, we open our textbooks and the students interpret these pictures. The 

teacher ensures active class participation as much as possible and students take the 

floor to talk about the subject during the class. This facilitates the teacher’s function 

and the teacher provides guidance to the students. As we make use of the materials 

around us, the teacher does not encounter any difficulty to find resources about the 

lesson. In my opinion, the fact that the context is designed in this way is very helpful 

to the teacher (RI, 4 /C).” 

 

“We usually do not prefer literal verbalism in social studies lessons. The lesson is 

primarily based on the interpretations of the illustrations by the students. In other 

words, the interpretations of the students determine how the lesson will continue. We 

focus on the themes chosen by the students associated with the illustrations they 

interpret (RI, 4/ D).” 

 The data shows that TA emphasized that the content dimension of the social studies 

curriculum is presented quite simple and plain. She also stated that these characteristics as 

well as the design of the textbooks contribute to teaching and learning process to be more 

efficient through student-oriented activities. 

 

 

Social studies curriculum and teaching & learning activities 

 Based on the constructivist approach which accounts for the philosophy of the new 

social studies curriculum, playing an active role in the learning process by student-oriented 

activities is a significant variable that has an influence on the teaching and learning process 

(Çalışkan, 2015). For this purpose, students make use of activity books in addition to 

textbooks. Thus, it is possible to carry out activities about the attainments following the 

associated lesson. Another useful instrument is the teacher’s guidebook. Whereas TA 

thinks that the activities contained within the scope of the curriculum and the teacher’s 

guidebook are quite helpful, she brings forward some criticism about the context of the 

teacher’s guidebook. 



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“With regard to the activities contained in the guidebook, it is not possible to apply 

them all in exactly the same way. Although the attainments are simple, the activities 

are not economical and they include some activities that are impossible to carry out 

in a village environment. For this reason, we sometimes modify the activities based 

on our available resources. For instance, if the activity requires us to buy some 

materials from the stationery shop, we rather prefer to use available materials (RI, 

5/A).” 

 TA emphasized the significance of the perspective set forth by the teacher’s guidebook 

with regard to carrying out teaching and learning activities in class and she described the 

process of teaching social studies lesson as follows: 
“Students have textbooks and workbooks about the social studies lesson. The first 

page contains questions about familiarization. Firstly, we ask these questions to the 

students and the students answer the questions based on their life experiences. Then 

we look at the illustrations in the book. We discuss about the illustrations. The 

lesson is completely based on speaking and answering the questions. We make use 

of acting and drama especially about certain subjects. After completing a subject, 

we follow the activities contained in the workbook (RI, 5/B).” 

 The observation records about the lesson confirm the description provided by TA 

about teaching of the lesson. Based on the observations, TA carried out various activities in 

the beginning of the social studies lesson with an aim to draw the attention of the students 

to the lesson in addition to using question and answer teaching method and she made use 

of student-oriented activities as much as possible within the scope of teaching and learning 

activities. In consideration of teaching and learning activities, TA is of the opinion that 

both the curriculum and the teacher’s guidebook overlook village schools.  
 

“Honestly, village schools are overlooked within the framework of activities 

contained in the curriculum. Although the attainments have been presented in a 

simple fashion, the activities have been intended for urban schools. If the teacher 

focuses on the attainments and designs the activities individually, there is no 

problem. However, if the teacher focuses on both the attainments and activities and 

attempts to carry out these activities, he or she would encounter a number of 

problems. In other words, we ask ourselves what do we intend to provide students 

with this attainment? We comprehend the answer to this question and then we intend 

to find examples about these attainments from our lives and immediate environment 

to include in the teaching and learning process. Otherwise, most of the activities are 

not suitable for the students in general because these students did not experience 

anything like these in their life before. On the other hand, I think that the 



Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2016: 7(1), 41-72 
 

58 
 

attainments are simple enough and they are fine but teachers in village schools 

should make more efforts than teachers in urban schools. (RI, 5/C).” 

 

Social studies curriculum and evaluation process 

 One of the four main elements of the curriculum is evaluation (Demirel, 2007). 

Assessment and evaluation activities have a crucial place in the determination of the 

achievement of the attainments during the teaching and learning process and also decision 

making about the quality of this process. Evaluation within the scope of the social studies 

lesson especially for the first 3 grades bears a number of differences compared to the 

subsequent grades. The social studies curriculum emphasizes that the evaluation in the first 

3 grades should be based on the participation of the students to the learning process rather 

than written examinations and multiple-choice tests (MEB, 2009). TA adopts this emphasis 

provided by the social studies curriculum. 
“In general, active participation of the students to the discussion of the subjects is 

very important for me with regard to evaluation. In my opinion, it is more important 

to evaluate students based on their participation to the discussions taking place 

during the class rather than evaluation based on written exams. I observe students 

during class. I pay attention to class participation in my observations. As a matter of 

fact, it is almost impossible for a student to avoid class participation within the 

scope of this lesson because the examples are based on their environment and their 

families. In addition, evaluation is also possible based on the scales contained in the 

teacher’s guidebook for social studies. However, I think observation and active 

class participation are more important (RI, 6 /A).” 

 According to TA, the most important factor to determine students’ success is based on 

their active class participation. TA considers class participation, playing an active role 

during the learning process and assuming responsibilities during the class are efficient 

criteria for evaluation. On the other hand, TA emphasized that some evaluation activities 

contained in the teacher’s guidebook are not suitable for village schools. 
“Although the teacher’s guidebook is quite useful, some dimensions of evaluation as 

well as teaching and learning processes overlook the conditions of village schools 

(RI, 6/B).” 

“Whether such applications as product file or scaled grading key contained in the 

curriculum may be applicable for village schools especially for the first three grades 

was not taken into account. In my opinion, the most efficient evaluation within the 

scope of the social studies lesson during the first three years of primary school 

should be based on the observations of the teacher (RI, 6/ C).” 

 



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 An analysis of the opinions of TA on evaluation in general shows that although TA 

knows about the forms and scales contained in the curriculum, she considers that the level 

of class participation of the students is more important for the evaluation process. Another 

problem is that some evaluation activities contained in the curriculum may not be 

applicable for village schools. 

 

Suggestions for more efficient application of social studies curriculum in village schools 

 The final theme of the study deals with the questions with regard to the problems 

encountered in the social studies lesson and these questions are as follows: What can be 

done for an efficient teaching of social studies lesson? What kind of suggestions can be put 

forward? TA points out that the drawbacks of the conditions of village schools are one of 

the most significant problems for the teaching process of social studies lesson. 
“The new social studies curriculum is a big step. It put forward a new philosophy 

and a new perspective however village schools have been rather overlooked in this 

curriculum. In particular, the application of certain teaching and learning activities 

contained within the scope of the teacher’s guidebook and the curriculum is either 

quite difficult or quite impossible. As far as I understand, the curriculum has been 

designed based on urban schools. In other words, the curriculum is intended for 

students going to urban schools. This condition leads to certain problems during the 

learning process (RI 7/ A).” 

 According to TA, another problem is the level of readiness of students. Although TA 

emphasizes that the new curriculum is remarkably a significant step to contribute to rather 

restricted dream world of the village students, she states that some problems arise with 

regard to the application of teaching and learning methods as well as the evaluation 

activities introduced in the curriculum. 
 

“To be honest, I am very upset about the fact that the comments of the students after 

they have looked at the illustrations are rather limited. This is a common situation in 

general especially as far as the students in village schools are concerned. Dream 

world of the students in village schools is not much developed and thus the students 

are often unable to interpret the illustrations efficiently. Nevertheless, they are still 

able to make some comments provided that we focus on the illustrations and discuss 

about them in detail and at length. I also think that the level of the evaluation 

activities provided in the new curriculum is higher than the level of the students in 

village schools. (RI, 7 /B).” 

 In the context of the aforementioned problems, TA brings forward some suggestions 

intended for a more efficient teaching of social studies in village schools. She suggests that 



Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2016: 7(1), 41-72 
 

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the efficient use of information technologies and the Internet would be a significant step in 

this framework. 
“Although our school has Internet access, we have some problems about connection 

speed and quality. In my opinion, we could make efficient use of the Internet for the 

resolution of the problems encountered in the social studies subjects especially in 

the teaching and learning process (RI, 7 / C)”. 

 Emphasizing that the activities and evaluation processes provided in the curriculum 

and the teacher’s guidebook could be reviewed for adaptation, TA thinks that designing a 

curriculum intended for village schools would be a significant step. 
“The philosophy of the curriculum is based on student-oriented teaching. This is 

quite important. On the other hand, a curriculum taking into account the conditions 

of village schools with multigrade classes could be designed. A life in the village 

could be more emphasized and thus the students would be able to give more 

examples from their environment during teaching activities (RI, 8 / D).” 

 TA thinks that introduction of activities encouraging students to participate more 

actively in teaching and learning process and providing activity books in this respect would 

be more useful than allocating time for some unnecessary bureaucratic procedures 

contained in the scope of the curriculum. 
“The curriculum requires certain evaluation scale forms to be filled. We are also 

required to fill up other documents. For instance, a supervisor visits the school and 

asks whether I filled up a certain form or performed a certain task. As a teacher, we 

are required to carry out these tasks but it would be more efficient to allocate time 

for various teaching activities instead of these bureaucratic procedures. For 

instance, I think that additional activity books could be designed and provided to 

teachers (RI, 8 / E). 

 Amongst the suggestions put forward by TA for more efficient teaching of social 

studies lesson, the following suggestions are significant: the curriculum should also take 

into account the conditions of village schools, the quality of internet access should be 

increased and learning environment with the Internet support should be provided. In 

addition, the conditions of village schools with multigrade classes should be considered 

and more comprehensive activity books should be provided to be used in these schools. 

 

Conclusions 

 In this case study, the opinions of a classroom teacher instructing in a village school 

with multigrade class on the nature of social studies and the social studies curriculum were 

analyzed and identified based on the questions designed within the scope of three main 



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themes titled as the nature of the social studies lesson, opinions on the social studies 

curriculum and opinions on more efficient application of the social studies curriculum in 

village schools. 

 Based on the findings obtained from the study, the teacher participated in the study 

maintained a consistent perspective about the nature of social studies. TA perceives social 

studies as a lesson that helps students acquire a good character and provides an insight to 

understand the society in which they live. In particular, TA makes a good point by 

emphasizing that social studies as a lesson which helps students build a good character and 

make sense of the culture of the society in which they live is the core component and focus 

of the primary school curriculum as a whole. Within the scope of the issues emphasized in 

the social studies curriculum and in consideration of TA’s emphasis on the contributions of 

the social studies lesson to an individual to become a productive and capable citizen among 

the society, TA indeed displays a comprehensive perspective on the nature of the social 

studies lesson. Based on the literature review of the descriptions of social studies, the 

perceptions of TA about the nature of social studies have also been found to be consistent. 

For instance, Sönmez (2005) described social studies as a process of association based on 

proof provided by environmental and social reality whereas Öztürk and Dilek (2005) 

described it as a lesson that enables primary school students during the first three grades to 

acquire basic behaviors required to become a good individual and a good citizen in 

addition to adapting to their environment as a productive individual with good nature. The 

fact that the teacher comprehends the nature of social studies or more precisely the fact that 

the teacher has a consistent and realistic perspective about the objectives, development 

process and the function of social studies has a crucial effect on the perception about 

teaching of the lesson. Based on the process of interview with TA and class observations, 

the student-oriented activities carried out by the teacher in the social studies lesson and the 

fact that she pays attention to the attainments result from the teacher’s perspective about 

the nature of social studies. As a matter of fact, this issue was greatly emphasized in the 

interviews with TA during the analysis process. The fact that the teacher had a full grasp of 

the nature of the teaching field was also a crucial variable for the expectations and attitudes 

of the teacher towards the lesson (Fishman et al., 2013). In this context, this finding 

obtained from the research was also consistent with the literature (Bartos & Lederman, 

2014; Cess-Newsome, 1999; Morine-Dershimer & Kent, 1999; Nilsson, 2008; Nilsson & 

Loughran, 2012). 

 



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 The opinions on the social studies curriculum have been obtained within the context of 

the elements of the curriculum. In this scope, the opinions of the teacher on the attainments 

have been obtained in the first place. TA thinks that the attainments are in the core of the 

social studies curriculum. TA stated that although most of the attainments are applicable 

for the intellectual level of the students, she considered that some attainments were 

designed without taking into account village schools and schools with multigrade classes. 

A review of various studies on the social studies curriculum indicates similar findings to 

those included in this study. The findings of the studies conducted on this subject indicate 

that the attainments contained in the new curriculum overlook the conditions of multigrade 

classes and village schools (Gür, 2009; Sınmaz, 2009; Kazu and Aslan, 2012; Kudal and 

Altun, 2012). 

 

 An analysis of the opinions on the social studies curriculum and its context indicates 

that the teacher participated in this study has positive opinions on the contextual structure 

of the curriculum. In particular, TA emphasized that the design of the textbooks and 

workbooks clearly reflects the spirit of the curriculum whereas she stated that it is very 

important in terms of teaching purposes that the curriculum has been designed in a simple 

and straightforward fashion. This finding of the study is also consistent with the findings of 

other studies on this subject. Kazu and Aslan (2012) also stated in their research that 

teachers in general favor the contextual elements of the curriculum and textbooks whereas 

Gözler (2009) has also obtained similar findings. In addition, Voltz, Sims & Nelson (2010) 

also emphasized that the textbooks, interactive applications, and workbooks used during 

the teaching process had a positive contribution to the students with regards to focusing on 

the lesson. 

 

 An analysis of the opinions on teaching and learning activities within the scope of the 

social studies curriculum indicates that TA adopted student-oriented activities in line with 

the principles stipulated in the curriculum. On the other hand, TA stated that she was 

unable to make efficient use of some activities contained in the teacher’s guidebooks since 

these chapters of the curriculum were designed based on urban schools in general. 

Nevertheless, she points out the fact that the textbooks and workbooks intended for the 

students are quite practical and useful in terms of teaching and learning activities. Kazu 

and Aslan (2012), as well as Gözler (2009) stated in their studies that teachers are often 

unable to make efficient use of some activities contained in the new curriculum although 



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they consider such activities would be beneficial. As a matter of fact, Dursun (2006) and 

Dalka (2006) stated that the activities contained in the new primary school curriculum 

were not efficiently applicable for schools with multigrade classes. In this context, the 

findings of this study are consistent with the findings of the previous studies. The findings 

obtained under this heading were also consistent with the foreign literature. In a study in 

which the integration of the information technologies to teaching and learning process was 

discussed, Buabeng-Andoh (2012) emphasized that environmental factors had both 

positive and negative effects on the teaching process undertaken by teachers. This 

condition is also considered to be influential in the motivation process. The students in the 

classrooms with relatively better environmental conditions compared to those of other 

classrooms were found to have higher motivation levels for their lessons. In this context, 

the methods and techniques used during teaching and learning process were also 

considered to be crucial variables (Dinç & Doğan, 2010; Entwisle, 2013; Schunk, Meece, 

& Pintrich, 2012). 

 

 Based on the analysis of the answers provided under Social Studies Curriculum and 

Evaluation Process, it was found out that the evaluation activities of the curriculum are in 

line with the constructivist approach but such activities are often inapplicable for village 

schools with multigrade classes. Some of the possible causes of this case are composed of 

factors such as class structure (at least two classes are instructed in one classroom), 

conditions of the village, and lack of class equipment for teaching and learning purposes. A 

review of literature indicates similar findings have been obtained in previous studies 

(Gündoğar, 2006; Kazu and Aslan, 2012; Özden, 2005; Yıldız, 2009). As a matter of fact, 

the literature demonstrated that the conditions surrounding teachers had an influence on the 

quality of the applications during the practice of the activities included in the constructivist 

evaluation applications and the curriculum. Windschitl (2002) emphasized that the 

challenges encountered by teachers emerge as an important problem in practice. Onosko 

(1991) stated that any problem encountered by teachers was a challenging obstacle against 

the achievement of high-level thinking skills and indicated that this obstacle resulted that 

the lessons focused on lower cognitive products. Furthermore, Killen (2012) indicated that 

unfavorable classroom size and technological incapacity could be considered as significant 

disadvantages to hinder an effective teaching and learning process. 

 



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 The final question of the study is associated with suggestions about more efficient 

application of the social studies curriculum in village schools and schools with multigrade 

classes. The findings related to this question indicate that the teacher’s guidebooks and 

some of the attainments contained in the curriculum have been designed without taking 

into account the conditions of village schools. Furthermore, it is also suggested that 

evaluation activities could be designed in a simpler fashion and the number of bureaucratic 

documents required to be filled with regard to the teaching process could be reduced so as 

to enable the teacher to focus on the teaching process in a more efficient way. Other 

suggestions include more efficient provision of the Internet access and improvement of the 

Internet connection speed with an aim to deal with the problems encountered during the 

teaching process. Designing a new curriculum intended for village schools and provision 

of more equipment to village schools for the purposes of teaching and learning process 

would contribute significantly to more efficient teaching of the social studies lesson. A 

review of literature with regard to this question of the study indicates that similar findings 

have been found in previous studies (Özden, 2005; Kazu and Aslan, 2012; Özden, 2005; 

Priestley & Biesta, 2013; Woods, Dooley, Luke, & Exley, 2014). 

Suggestions 

1- Teachers should be educated in an efficient way prior to serving as a teacher in 

order to have a sound perspective on the nature of social studies since 

comprehension of the nature of social studies plays an important role in teaching 

activities. 

2- The social studies curriculum and the materials required in association with the 

curriculum should be reviewed in order to take into account the social and 

economic conditions of village schools. 

3- Improvement of the Internet access facilities, connection speed and quality in 

village schools would contribute significantly to the teaching quality of the social 

studies lesson. For this reason, the Internet access facilities in village schools 

should be improved. 

4- The bureaucratic procedures such as evaluation forms and filling up documents 

required within the scope of the curriculum should be minimized to help teachers 

dwell on the problems of teaching and focus on such problems encountered during 

the teaching process. 



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5- Workbook sets containing further activities in addition to textbooks and activity 

books could be designed and provided to village schools with a view to 

significantly improve the quality of teaching service. 

 

Recommendation for Further Studies 

 This study was conducted in a small village school with idiosyncratic conditions. In 

this context, the level of generalization of case studies can be considered to be lower 

compared to that of quantitative studies; however, they may provide guidance to 

quantitative studies through the extensive and comprehensive information they obtain. 

From this point of view, conducting a study on a larger sample and conducting a survey on 

the teachers instructing in a multigrade class may significantly contribute to the 

generalization of the findings throughout the world. Similarly, qualitative research on the 

teachers and school directors may also contribute to the analysis of various aspects related 

to the subject matter. For example, problems such as teachers’ opinions on the technology 

integration in the social studies lesson, or the effects of constructivist evaluation 

applications on the academic achievement and attitudes towards the lesson may positively 

contribute to the quality of teaching of social studies. Moreover, analyses of classroom 

teachers’ perception about the curriculum as well as their commitment to the curriculum 

and their ability to efficiently apply the curriculum may also contribute to deepening the 

perspective provided in this study. 

 

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