A Comparison between Turkish and British Students' Acquisition Levels of Universal-Social Values Placed in Curriculum: A Case Study

Abstract

In 2005 by reforming its primary school curriculum Turkey has introduced a set of regarding methods of acquiring and teaching national spiritual cultural and international values. Considered within the contexts of Turkey's EU bid and globalization, acquisition of moral values bears importance for the national education system of Turkey. By comparing Turkey to the UK this project aims to present the level of acquiring some of the international values "respect, tolerance, protecting and developing cultural values" that are included in the curriculum (Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge, Social Studies, Humanities Course) of various countries, as well as Turkey. The Project involves the following process: literature review, analysis of the primary curriculum of both countries, development of measuring methods, application of the forms of measurement, observation of the mutual visits and evaluation of research findings. Students of 11-12 age group attending primary schools in Turkey and the UK are studied in this research. Within the research, the measurement of value levels was adopted into English. Using nonparametric analysis techniques the data was analyzed. The analysis was carried out both within each country and by comparing both countries.