Curriculum Reform and Teacher Autonomy in Turkey: The Case of the History Teaching

Abstract

In recent years, the curriculum programs have been changed dramatically in Turkey, as part of a comprehensive reform initiative. The history curriculum for secondary schools was subjected to this transformation as well. This study examines the curriculum reform in terms of teacher autonomy, a key-concept for the comprehension and improvement of the teachers’ role in education. The study aims to analyze whether the change in the curriculum has brought any significant innovation regarding the teacher autonomy. According to study’s findings, the new history curriculum fails to construct a new framework that is able to provide to teachers a broad sphere of power and autonomy which could allow and encourage them to assume a greater role in the curriculum planning and implementation. This situation is evidently in contradiction with the main reform’s goals such as the development of student-centered teaching methods focusing on the needs, interests and demands of the students and considering their diversities.