New School of Mustafa Satı Bey in Istanbul (1915)

This study has two purposes: the first is to present the general condition of public education in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by showing the reformation process in educational institutes and teacher training, and the relationship between this process and the New Education movement in the Ottoman Empire; the second is to determine to what extent Mustafa Sat? Bey, often referred to as the Pestalozzi of the Ottoman Empire, contributed to the New Education movement through the analysis of his opinions on education, and his attempts to open a New School. As a result of Mustafa Sat? Bey’s analysis, New Education practices in the Ottoman Empire were stated to be practising a unilateral receiving-and-adapting procedure and the Ottoman Empire was positioned at the periphery in terms of the circulation of the movement. In his New School and in the Teacher Training School, Sat? Bey was concerned with the New Education movement both on an administrative and operative level. However, his practices were not sufficient to create his own theory and examine any other theory. Thus, when evaluated in terms of his contributions to the New Education movement, Sat? Bey is positioned somewhere between practical reformer and practitioner.     

Promoting field trip confidence: teachers providing insights for pre-service education

Pre-service teachers need experiences in practical matters as a part of field trip preparations programmes. For 14 years, a private, non-profit university in Turkey has involved pre-service teachers in field trip planning, implementation and evaluation. A programme assessment was conducted through a case study to examine the long-term effects of pre-service field trip preparation. Through a survey created for the study, teachers shared their field trip activities and reported confidence levels. The survey was administered to 44 alumni of the biology education department with a response rate of 72.7% (N = 32). This study will help researchers learn which programme areas need to be improved and can serve as a model for other institutions interested in evaluating field trip preparation programmes.     

Student Participation in Higher Education Institutions in Turkey

After the 2001 meeting of the European Ministers of Education held in Prague, higher education institutions in Turkey took serious actions in order to implement the goals of the Bologna Declaration (1999). Arrangements made for the democratization of universities and student participation in the decision‐making process formed one of the predominant actions. The formal point of these arrangements – aimed at student involvement in the university governance process via Student Councils and their representatives, was prescribed by law and forced universities to comply with the process. The present research provides information about the legal arrangements in higher education institutions concerning student involvement in the university decision‐making process and the obstacles met within the course of application. In addition, it presents the findings of an empirical study related to student representation and involvement in governance through the agency of the Student Councils.     

English language teachers becoming more efficacious through research engagement at their Turkish university

While it is generally recognized that teacher research can be a very beneficial form of continuing professional development (CPD), there is still relatively limited research available on the impact this activity has on teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, which are of interest to educational psychologists because, while being open to constant change, these beliefs influence the way in which knowledge is transformed into action. There is also a relative lack of available research into how teachers develop as researchers; the processes whereby they gain practical knowledge and more positive self-efficacy beliefs in planning, conducting, analysing, presenting and writing up research require further exploration. This qualitative multi-case study addresses these issues, exploring the development of three in-service teachers of English on a foundation programme at a Turkish university. Findings reveal that engaging in CPD which directly benefited their learners helped all three teachers develop positive teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and deeper practical knowledge in relation to the specific tasks that concerned them. Furthermore, from a starting point of having low self-efficacy beliefs in conducting practical research, which reflected their lack of prior knowledge in this area, they all became more efficacious as they gained research experience and developed practical knowledge of research. This study highlights the benefits, then, of helping teachers become more efficacious through CPD that engages them as knowledge-generators. Enthusiastic mentoring, autonomy support and the opportunity to present their research more widely all helped the teachers in this Turkish context to develop.     

Medical neglect of a child: challenges for pediatricians in developing countries

OBJECTIVE: To conceptualize the underlying causes of the medical neglect of children in a developing country and to provide suggestions for the management of neglect by pediatricians. METHODS: A case history of a 4-year-old boy from Turkey with neglect of the required treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia is used to examine the causes and management of medical neglect. Results: Although epidemiological studies on child neglect are lacking, this case exemplifies how in DEVELOPING countries, reasons for neglect or non-compliance with medical recommendations and the roles and actions taken by the health care and the social service systems may differ from western populations. Common to both western and developing countries, the characteristics of the child, family, and society may be reasons for medical neglect. However, cultural fatalistic beliefs profoundly present in the developing world may also contribute to the medical neglect of a child. Identification of the neglect, a comprehensive, multidisciplinary assessment emphasizing the strengths within the family and the society, and the determination of the pediatric team to act in the best interest of the child may result in resolution of the neglect even in circumstances where resources within systems are not sufficient. CONCLUSIONS: In developing countries, increased emphasis on child neglect, its prompt recognition and management within the pediatric profession as well as at a health care and social service system levels are needed to address this prevalent and potentially fatal child health problem.     

Curriculum elements of a politically liberal education in a developing democracy

A previous study has justified the idea that a politically liberal conception of formal education can be applied in a developing democracy if such a society has reached a narrow overlapping consensus on its education system or modifies its education system from a minimally coercive perspective. This study further considers the fundamental question of how to determine such an educational account’s curriculum elements. In this sense, this study aims to provide a perspective on determining some core curriculum elements of a politically liberal conception of formal education, while focusing its attention to developing democracies.     

The effect of electronic performance support systems on self-regulated learning skills

Electronic performance support systems (EPSSs) are the software programs commonly used in commercial environments since the early 1990s. These software programs are generally called performance-based systems and focus on the complete job rather than providing individual development. For that reason, the usage of these systems in learning environments has not been sufficiently investigated. In this empirical study, availability of using EPSS software for learning processes was investigated in order to contribute to the literature. An EPSS software was developed for undergraduate students to use in programming language courses and the effects of the software on students' self-regulation based learning skills were investigated. During the treatment process, while the experimental group was supported with EPSS, traditional teaching continued in the control group. The results of the study showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of motivational beliefs; however, there were significant differences in terms of cognitive, metacognitive, and resource management strategies.     

Climate Change in the Mainstream Turkish Press: Coverage Trends and Meaning Dimensions in the First Attention Cycle

This article examines how climate change is represented by the mainstream press in a developing country context characterized by long-term avoidance of the issue. Study 1 establishes the issue coverage trends in two mainstream Turkish newspapers (1997–2013). Study 2 focuses on the news sections of these papers that were used for reporting about the issue in the first attention cycle (1997–2009) to summarize the knowledge and meaning dimensions presented to the Turkish public sphere. The findings show that the issue became part of the press agenda only after the mid-2000s, with a peak in 2007 (Study 1), and that climate change is represented as anthropogenic and alarming/uncontroversial, by drawing on dramatic consequences. These are constructed simultaneously as already “out there” in the country, and as to be dealt with globally, that is, from outside (Study 2). We discuss the findings by linking them to findings from other developing countries.     

Using action research in middle level teacher education to evaluate and deepen reflective practice

The study examined the role of action research in promoting critical reflective thinking among twenty preservice teachers engaged in a year-long middle level program. Data from collaborative discussions, final written documents, presentations, and follow-up surveys revealed that conducting action research (a) engaged them in inquiry into their own practice, (b) was a means to reflect upon and determine ways to change their teaching practices, and (c) promoted critical reflection in a collaborative learning environment. Results underscore the importance of preservice teachers critically reflecting to gain insights into teaching and student learning as they are engaged in action research.