The Enacted Curriculum's Impact on Learner Identity and Inequities in Türkiye

Abstract

Inequities are apparent worldwide, and those are affected by many social, political, economic and educational factors. Especially in education, ideological perspectives shape the learners’ future via educational components. The present study aimed to reveal the role of the enacted curriculum in deepening and reproducing inequities by making sense of the experiences of disadvantaged Turkish learners regarding identity construction. Interpretive phenomenology was used as a research design to achieve this aim based on sociological and sociocultural perspectives. Since interpretative phenomenology argues that experiences cannot be separated from social and cultural life, it is a design that naturally includes recognition, context and experience, forming learner identity dimensions included in this study’s theoretical base. Participants comprised seven disadvantaged Turkish single mothers and their secondary-level children from different backgrounds. For data analysis, semi-structured interviews were conducted, and interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse interviews through MAXQDA2020. As a result of the analysis, it was shown that the learners constructed fluid identities based on different contexts and conditions. These identities were related to the reproduction of capital accumulation and reinforced by the enacted curriculum. In addition, social issues like COVID-19 affected the identities of learners since it had various social and educational results. © 2024, Ozgen Korkmaz. All rights reserved.