Poetry in the Social Studies Textbooks in Turkey

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine social studies textbooks to investigate the use of poetry in the social studies textbooks in Turkey. This paper also examines whose poets have been represented in the textbooks. The authors applied content analysis to evaluate social studies textbooks. Content analysis is a research method that uses a set of procedures to make valid inferences from text. It is also described as a method of analyzing written, verbal or visual communication messages. Content analysis allows the researcher to test theoretical issues to enhance understanding of the data. The results showed that very few poems were used in the social studies textbooks. The finding of the study revealed that poems in the 4th grade textbooks relate to topics that were interest to students the nature and humanism. Poem about Şavşat, described the beauty of Turkish homeland in the four seasons. Vetch Field poem in the 5th grade social studies textbook, described a bride who has to work in the field. This poem seems to be written for girls since the language indicates ‘girls’ several times. It emphasizes how hard to be a bride in the vetch field. Remaining poems were used to promote students’ patriotic values. These poems emphasizes flag, homeland, heroism etc.