Mustafa Ozturk - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Mustafa Ozturk

Journal of Education and Humanities, 2018

Teachers are still the most important factor in student learning. For this reason successful educ... more Teachers are still the most important factor in student learning. For this reason successful educational outcomes requires quality teachers (Day, 1999). One cannot expect quality learning outcomes from teachers who are not competent in organizing inclusive learning environments including physical, psycho-social and pedagogic environments, and have low motivation. Professional conduct requires competency and motivation. Although teachers tend to be seen semi-professionals in the literature dating back to 1970s (Demirkasımoğlu, 2010), the recent literature increasingly considers teachers as full professionals and stresses upon the need for increasing teachers’ levels of professional conducts (OECD, 2016, Hargreaves and Fullan, 2012, Sachs, 2018). Key documents published by the Ministry of Education in recent years also places of great importance on teachers’ professionalism (ÖMGY, 2017; ÖSB, 2017). An OECD report, Supporting Teacher Professionalism, based on the TALIS survey, “conceptualises teacher professionalism as being comprised of: knowledge base, defined as necessary knowledge for teaching; autonomy, defined as teachers’ decision-making over aspects related to their work; and peer networks, defined as opportunities for information exchange and support needed to maintain high standards of teaching” (OECD, 2016: 1). In this study the perceptions and levels of professionalism of geography teachers were examined based on the motivational factors such as pedagogic competency, cooperation with colleagues, choices made by teachers, and initial stages of their carriers.

Milli Eğitim Dergisi, 2020

In primary and secondary schools, social studies course and geography education, which is a sub-d... more In primary and secondary schools, social studies course and geography education, which is a sub-discipline of social studies, has an important place in providing students with fundamental skills, values and social belonging. In this study, firstly, through a Delphi study with the participation of five experts. Thus, spatial thinking skills and their indicators that are expected of the students who start and finish middle school were established. Then, according to the spatial thinking skills and indicators, Social Studies Course Curriculum was evaluated. Furthermore, two tests to measure the development of Grade 5 and 8 students’ spatial thinking skills were developed. The test was applied to 80 students in two classes of 5th and 8th grades in a middle school in Kayseri. According to the findings, it was found that the Social Studies Curriculum did not meet the spatial thinking skills expected to be developed by the students in the 5th and 8th grades fully, and that these skills were not reflected to the curriculum standards in a systematic way that enable students’ progress. When the students’ progress is evaluated from grade 5 to grade 8, it was found that many spatial thinking skills were in decline, especially location, conditions, connections and region. These results show that the spatial thinking skills of the students participating in the study are not developed sufficiently.

Kastamonu Eğitim Dergisi, 2019

Teachers start their professional careers in similar conditions, as novice teachers. However, not... more Teachers start their professional careers in similar conditions, as novice teachers. However, not every teacher attains the level of competent expertise in their professional lives. In this study, teachers’ process of being competent professionals; their career developments and how they learn the profession during their careers are examined in the case of geography teachers in Turkey. 25 geography teachers working in different school types across Turkey participated in the study. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Content analysis was carried out by using QDA Miner Lite 2.0.5 qualitative analysis software. According to the results of the study, it was found that the majority of the participants did not make an easy induction to the profession and they generally learned about their profession from their role models (i.e. teachers from their own school years) and through their own experiences. Furthermore, the participants’ motivations for professional development are usually low and their professional development is generally not supported by different stakeholders. It is observed that the participants have usually not been able to reach the level of competent professionalism. However, they seemed to had completed three career stages: Novitiate, transition to expertise, expertise.

Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 2019

Science centres are one of the outdoor learning environments that can be made use of effectively ... more Science centres are one of the outdoor learning environments that can be made use of effectively in various school stages from preschool education to university. A science centre is an educational facility that uses interactive tools that allows visitors to experience scientific phenomenon to learn science. One of the courses that Science Centres could be used to teach is Social Studies. The purpose of the research is to reveal the experiences , attitudes and opinions of prospective social studies teachers about Science Centres as an outdoor teaching environment. The data were collected through perspective forms that struc-tured in three stages: pre-visit questions, questions concerning experiences during the visit and after visit questions. Both descriptive and qualitative content analysis techniques were used when analysing the data. According to the findings, the student teachers initially conceptualised Science Centres as exhibit and laboratory. They developed positive opinions and emotions regarding their visits resulting in an overall very positive attitude towards Science Centres. They also believe that Science Centres could effectively be used in teaching of Social Studies.

Journal of Education and Humanities, 2018

Teachers are still the most important factor in student learning. For this reason successful educ... more Teachers are still the most important factor in student learning. For this reason successful educational outcomes requires quality teachers (Day, 1999). One cannot expect quality learning outcomes from teachers who are not competent in organizing inclusive learning environments including physical, psycho-social and pedagogic environments, and have low motivation. Professional conduct requires competency and motivation. Although teachers tend to be seen semi-professionals in the literature dating back to 1970s (Demirkasımoğlu, 2010), the recent literature increasingly considers teachers as full professionals and stresses upon the need for increasing teachers’ levels of professional conducts (OECD, 2016, Hargreaves and Fullan, 2012, Sachs, 2018). Key documents published by the Ministry of Education in recent years also places of great importance on teachers’ professionalism (ÖMGY, 2017; ÖSB, 2017). An OECD report, Supporting Teacher Professionalism, based on the TALIS survey, “conceptualises teacher professionalism as being comprised of: knowledge base, defined as necessary knowledge for teaching; autonomy, defined as teachers’ decision-making over aspects related to their work; and peer networks, defined as opportunities for information exchange and support needed to maintain high standards of teaching” (OECD, 2016: 1). In this study the perceptions and levels of professionalism of geography teachers were examined based on the motivational factors such as pedagogic competency, cooperation with colleagues, choices made by teachers, and initial stages of their carriers.

Milli Eğitim Dergisi, 2020

In primary and secondary schools, social studies course and geography education, which is a sub-d... more In primary and secondary schools, social studies course and geography education, which is a sub-discipline of social studies, has an important place in providing students with fundamental skills, values and social belonging. In this study, firstly, through a Delphi study with the participation of five experts. Thus, spatial thinking skills and their indicators that are expected of the students who start and finish middle school were established. Then, according to the spatial thinking skills and indicators, Social Studies Course Curriculum was evaluated. Furthermore, two tests to measure the development of Grade 5 and 8 students’ spatial thinking skills were developed. The test was applied to 80 students in two classes of 5th and 8th grades in a middle school in Kayseri. According to the findings, it was found that the Social Studies Curriculum did not meet the spatial thinking skills expected to be developed by the students in the 5th and 8th grades fully, and that these skills were not reflected to the curriculum standards in a systematic way that enable students’ progress. When the students’ progress is evaluated from grade 5 to grade 8, it was found that many spatial thinking skills were in decline, especially location, conditions, connections and region. These results show that the spatial thinking skills of the students participating in the study are not developed sufficiently.

Kastamonu Eğitim Dergisi, 2019

Teachers start their professional careers in similar conditions, as novice teachers. However, not... more Teachers start their professional careers in similar conditions, as novice teachers. However, not every teacher attains the level of competent expertise in their professional lives. In this study, teachers’ process of being competent professionals; their career developments and how they learn the profession during their careers are examined in the case of geography teachers in Turkey. 25 geography teachers working in different school types across Turkey participated in the study. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Content analysis was carried out by using QDA Miner Lite 2.0.5 qualitative analysis software. According to the results of the study, it was found that the majority of the participants did not make an easy induction to the profession and they generally learned about their profession from their role models (i.e. teachers from their own school years) and through their own experiences. Furthermore, the participants’ motivations for professional development are usually low and their professional development is generally not supported by different stakeholders. It is observed that the participants have usually not been able to reach the level of competent professionalism. However, they seemed to had completed three career stages: Novitiate, transition to expertise, expertise.

Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 2019

Science centres are one of the outdoor learning environments that can be made use of effectively ... more Science centres are one of the outdoor learning environments that can be made use of effectively in various school stages from preschool education to university. A science centre is an educational facility that uses interactive tools that allows visitors to experience scientific phenomenon to learn science. One of the courses that Science Centres could be used to teach is Social Studies. The purpose of the research is to reveal the experiences , attitudes and opinions of prospective social studies teachers about Science Centres as an outdoor teaching environment. The data were collected through perspective forms that struc-tured in three stages: pre-visit questions, questions concerning experiences during the visit and after visit questions. Both descriptive and qualitative content analysis techniques were used when analysing the data. According to the findings, the student teachers initially conceptualised Science Centres as exhibit and laboratory. They developed positive opinions and emotions regarding their visits resulting in an overall very positive attitude towards Science Centres. They also believe that Science Centres could effectively be used in teaching of Social Studies.