Who are the future teachers in Turkey? Characteristics of entering student teachers

This exploratory study examines the background characteristics, socio-cultural values and pedagogical beliefs that entering student teachers bring with them into the faculties of education and explores their possible implications for teacher education in the Turkish context. The study comprised 18,226 first-year student teachers from 51 faculties of education who participated in the study by responding to a three-section questionnaire developed by the research team. Their responses indicate that students entering education faculties typically come from families of lower-middle socio-economic status living in urban areas, tend to possess more traditional than secular-rational values and have not yet formed clear pedagogical beliefs.     

Current status of cadaver sources in Turkey and a wake‐up call for Turkish anatomists

Persisting difficulties in body procurement in Turkey led to the acquisition of donated, unclaimed, autopsied, and imported bodies regulated under current legislature. Yet, no study had investigated the extent of the on‐going cadaver problem. This study was aimed to outline cadaver sources in anatomy departments and their effectiveness by means of an online survey. Additionally, official websites of each department were investigated regarding any information on body donation. Unclaimed cadavers (84.8%) were the major source for anatomy departments, followed by donated (50%) and imported cadavers (39.1%). Foundation‐based medical faculties were more likely to import cadavers (P = 0.008). There was a moderate increase (r_s = 0.567; P = 0.018) in donation registrations to our department after 2000. The departments in cities with significantly higher City‐Based Gross Domestic Product measures (US$9,900 vs. US$16,772, P = 0.041), frequencies for mid‐ or high‐school graduates (30.4% vs. 31.3%, P = 0.041), and frequencies for under‐ or post‐graduates (13.1% vs. 15.8%, P = 0.24) had managed to use donated cadavers. Anatomy departments’ major reasons for using unclaimed cadavers were education (45.9%), unclaimed cadavers being the only source (24.3%), and receiving inadequate donations (21.6%). Nine out of seventy‐four departments (12.2%) provided information regarding body donation on their websites. Body procurement remains as a serious problem in Turkey and it is apparent that current legislature does not provide a sufficient cadaver inflow. Similarly, anatomy departments’ effectiveness in public awareness of body donation and support in the National Body Donation Campaign seems questionable. Anat Sci Educ 11: 155–165. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

土耳其的医学教育:从过去到未来

本文从本科生医学教育、毕业后医学教育和继续医学教育的角度,论述了土耳其医学院校的历史和现状,医学教育的质量和专业风格,以及当前面临的问题和机遇.     

National Identity and the Informational Welfare State: Turkey and Malaysia Compared

Researchers have found a number of economic, technological, and political factors to be associated with the diffusion of information technology in developing countries. But cultural factors generally, and national identity in particular, have almost never been viewed as consequential. Castells and Himanen's 2002 study of the information society in Finland, in which the authors identify Finnish national culture as an impetus to the development of the country's informational welfare state, is the most prominent exception to this pattern. This article provides a critical overview of Castells and Himanen's research and revises their conceptual framework to focus on the specific choices states make in constructing their national identities and the effects of these choices on information policy and information technology diffusion. It demonstrates the value of this revised framework through a comparison of the historical trajectories of Turkey and Malaysia's nation-building projects, the incentives these projects have created for the two countries’ social and political elites, and the public information policies and programs that have resulted.     

Who makes it into PISA? Understanding the impact of PISA sample eligibility using Turkey as a case study (PISA 2003–PISA 2012)

ABSTRACT

New evidence presented in this paper shows that existing accounts of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in developing countries underestimate both progress and inequality because they do not take into account the large proportion of 15–16-year olds who are ineligible for the PISA sampling frame, primarily due to dropout or delay. In such countries, who makes it into PISA (sample eligibility) heavily influences representivity and therefore the interpretation of PISA results. We use PISA in Turkey 2003–2012 as a case study to show how combining measures of access (from the Turkish Demographic and Health Surveys) and learning outcomes (from PISA) can account for changes in the underlying population. We find the percentage of 15–16-year olds reaching Level 2 in PISA is up to twice as large as that reflected in official PISA reports. These findings have strong implications for inter-country and inter-temporal comparisons using PISA, particularly for developing countries.     

Beginning early childhood education teachers’ struggle with inclusion in Turkey

The purpose of this study was to investigate Turkish early childhood education teachers’ perception of inclusion before they started their teaching profession and to explore their experiences with the children with disabilities in their first year of teaching. Sixteen Turkish pre-service teachers were first interviewed when they completed the teacher education programme about their expectations of inclusion practices in their future career. Four participants among the 16 teachers started to teach children with disabilities in their first year of teaching. Then, they were interviewed about their experiences at the end of the first and second semesters of teaching. Findings revealed that Turkish pre-service teachers displayed positive attitudes towards inclusion before they started teaching. However, they had negative experiences with children with disabilities in their first year due to the misimplementation of the inclusion policy and being inexperienced about the inclusion process, and began to question the effectiveness of inclusion. Implications for the inclusion policy and teacher education programmes are discussed.     

土耳其教师教育课程改革述评

进入21世纪,土耳其的教师教育面临着很多的问题与挑战:一是师资的严重短缺;二是地区之间存在着严重差异,特别是农村地区缺乏优质的教师资源;三是师范生的录取缺乏有效的评价标准。为应对上述问题与挑战,土耳其近年展开了系统的教师教育课程改革。首先,加强教师教育的课程质量建设;其次,对传统单一的教师教育课程进行了大力改革,特别是提出了"互为贯通"的课程培训理念;第三,对教师教育课程中的基础课程变革十分重视,提出了重新设计基础课程的改革方案;第四,增强高校在师范生实习环节的指导力度,并在教师教育课程中去"西方"化,更突出土耳其的文化精髓,使教师教育课程内容更加本土化。     

“Roy's Turkish Delight”: Football,Nationalism and the Representation of Turkey in the British Sports Media

ABSTRACT

A large body of literature in representational studies reflects a deep professional concern over the negative effect of the role of the media in representing significant Others. Western media's coverage of an international event, in this case, a football competition, raises some ethical questions about the choice of specific lexical items and textual contents. Drawing on the work of Stuart Hall's representation theory, this article examines how Turkey, a nation located on the semi-periphery of Europe, is represented in Western media outlets. By looking at the role that sections of the British sports press plays in their construction of the Turkish national identity, I evaluate the Euro 2016 and Euro 2004 reporting of the UEFA European Championship qualifying matches between Turkey and England. I apply a combination of lexical and narrative analysis, and I question the way that Turkey is represented in the British sport texts. The style and language used in the presentation of football games reveals that British media outlets are prone to present England's politically and economically powerful position, and its cultural superiority over Turkey. Findings also suggest that the discourse of the “West and the Rest” is alive in the modern world.     

Powerful Actor and Hesitant Institutionalization: The State in the History of Turkish Football

We examine the validity of the assumptions of the new institutional theory about the state over the history of national football league as an institutional field in Turkey. The state is not out of the field, on the contrary, at the centre of the field, and is not an ordinary actor but the most important one although the intensity of the state’s impact changes from time to time. Sometimes, the state founds the football clubs and administrates them directly, decides who will be the champion; and sometimes, authorizes the regulative agency and gives autonomy. However, despite the state’s coercive power on the ground, the Turkish football field is still far from being fully institutionalized with its fluctuating structure.     

The impact of John Dewey on the teacher education system in Turkey

This study discusses the impact of John Dewey (1859–1952) on Turkey's teacher education system. In so doing, it heavily relies on the commissioned report “The Report and Recommendation on Turkish Education” prepared by Dewey in 1924. This paper documents Dewey's ideas about teacher education in Turkey and analyses their take up in practice. Based on the research findings, it could be argued that Dewey had a considerable impact on the transformation of teacher education system in Turkey. His most visible impact was best observed in the policies and practices in the training of village teachers. The Village Institutes Project, launched in the early 1940s to introduce a model specific to Turkey, was extensively based on Dewey's recommendations. In the Republican Era, Dewey's ideas and thoughts on education have been eagerly observed and implemented by Turkish authorities, who have openly recognised his competence and authority in the field of education. His impact on Turkish education system is still visible as the present policy makers make reference to his works.